Five Hundred Miles
by Blackened Wing
Summary: Called away before Yuki's graduation, Kaname and Zero are in a hurry to get back in time. But a plane crash, an inhospitable jungle, warring guerilla factions and serious injuries plunge them into a struggle for survival that they may not escape at all.
1. Morning Serenade

**Five Hundred Miles  
**by Blackened Wing

**Rating:** M

**Summary**: Called away right before Yuki's graduation, Kaname and Zero are in a hurry to get back in time. But a plane crash, an inhospitable jungle, warring guerilla factions and serious injuries plunge them into a struggle for survival that they may not escape at all.

**Warnings:** This story portrays an established, committed relationship between three people who love each other. It includes both m/m and m/f/m themes. If the preceding threatens to disturb you, please don't read this story. Warnings too on character whumping, blood, gore and minor scary/thematic events later on. If you are overly phobic of airplanes and airplane crashes... uh... well, you've been warned.

**Pairings:** Kaname x Yuki x Zero – yes, mix match and together in any order ;)

**Series:** This story is part of the **Trio Series**, which follows Kaname, Zero and Yuki and their relationship as based off of my story _"Crimson Door". _

**Important: **This whole series splits off and is AU from the Vampire Knight Manga as of Chapter 33. In this universe Yuki really is a human, born of human parents who were friends of Kaname's parents. Kaname's parents were both murdered by Rido, Kaname all but killed Rido to avenge them and keep from becoming his ward, and Yuki's parents were killed as a result, leaving Yuki with no memory and Kaname the only one left to look out for her interests and his own. Everything else is in accord with the Manga version of events up to right after Kaname asks Yuki to be his lover. Everything from there on out, as told in my story _"Crimson Door"_ is different. As long as you know that, you don't have to have read any of my other stories to read this one. It would make the story a richer experience probably, but the story can stand alone okay too.

**A/N:** This story is set some years after the ending of _"Crimson Door"._ Yuki is now in her early twenties and Kaname and Zero are somewhere thereabouts as well, although they're physically aging slower than her, naturally. I start this story off with the assumption that there's been a lot of hell for the three of them in the past, trying to get their non-conventional relationship to work, but that they're finally at a point now where things are comfortable. Don't worry, I fully intend to go back and write some nice, angsty stories that take place between the end of "Crimson Door" and the start of this story that deal with how they finally work the situation out and all the trouble and pain along the way. But the bunnies chewed my leg off with this idea first, so I had to write it out of sequence. _shrugs_ what can I say? My muse is a vampire and she makes me write whatever she wants me to write. _cowers_ LOL

**Disclaimer:** Vampire Knight and its characters do not belong to me. They belong to their inspired creator Matsuri Hino. I borrow them without permission, but with great affection. This story is for entertainment purposes only; no money is being made from it.

**Chapter One: "Morning Serenade"**

* * *

_"I would walk five hundred miles, and I would walk five hundred moreee..."_ the sound of Yuki's voice absently half-singing drifted in clearly from the bathroom as she brushed her hair. Morning light streamed in brightly through the lightly curtained windows of the airy apartment.

Zero rubbed his eyes groggily as he filled the coffee pot carafe with water and poured it into the tank at the back of the machine. From the only partially walled off kitchen area of Yuki's comfortable little studio apartment he could see the bathroom doorway in one direction and the bed in the large 'bedroom' enclave near the patio doors in the other.

Kaname was still passed out on the bed, cocooned in the covers, dark hair lightly mussed against the pale green sheets. Of course, since this was actually the time of day when he was _supposed_ to be sleeping, that wasn't much of a surprise.

Zero yawned again, squinting a bit against the light. Mornings were not his best time, and it was worse since Kaname had half-converted him to a normal vampire sleep schedule, at least when they were together. But the hunter often still clung stubbornly to his old human habits when he was alone. When they were with Yuki... then both he _and_ Kaname tried to adjust to a daytime schedule, for her sake. Yuki always met them half way, keeping late hours with them into the wee hours of the morning. The result was usually that _nobody_ really got enough sleep initially and you ended up with two cranky vampires and a human who dozed off in all her morning classes. They couldn't have been happier.

_"Just to be the man who walked a thousand miles to fall down at your door. Oooh, I would walk five hundred miles..."_ Yuki was still singing. She apparently only remembered the chorus of the song.

Zero winced ruefully and grabbed the bag of coffee beans from the shelf. He loved Yuki dearly, and it was admittedly sweet to hear her voice, but... she couldn't sing worth a damn and she was getting that silly song from the movie last night stuck in his head. Sometimes vampire hearing was a curse. It sounded like she was singing right in his ear instead of across the apartment.

"Yuki, you've worn that one to death, pick another already," he called to her in a voice that was more wry than grumpy. He popped a couple of pieces of bread into the toaster.

Yuki, smile obvious in her voice, merely pitched the song up a little louder, starting the chorus all over again. She was a senior in college now, nearing graduation, and much had changed over the past few years in her relationship with Zero, and with Kaname. As she'd grown and matured, she'd discovered two incredible lovers who were devoted to her and to each other. She returned that devotion wholeheartedly and savored the unlikely joy of being part of a three-way relationship that actually, for the most part, worked.

One thing that had not changed in her relationship with Zero however, was the fact that they still picked on each other mercilessly.

Zero poured beans into the coffee grinder and jabbed the button down, momentarily drowning out Yuki's voice with the loud, grinding whirr of the sharp blades chopping the beans up into coarse grounds suitable for making their morning injection of java. Caffeine, ironically, was one of the few mild stimulants that had more or less the same effect on humans and vampires alike.

They used to really only drink tea, but Kaname had gotten hooked on coffee after acquiring several island coffee plantations and had introduced it to the rest of them. So now they alternated between tea and coffee as the mood struck. This morning, was definitely a coffee morning, for all of them. But if it was coffee, it had to be of the fresh-ground variety or Kaname wouldn't drink it. He thought canned, crystallized or even pre-ground coffee was an abomination.

Zero held the grinder button down for a little longer than necessary before finally releasing it. Yuki was still singing. He rolled his eyes, amused despite himself.

Kaname groaned, wincing at the light streaming in all over him and at the loud sounds grating on his incredibly sensitive hearing. He rolled over, tugging the pillow over his head.

"_Unngh,_ do you two have to make so much _noise?_" he grumbled in a heavily sleep-fogged voice, muffled by the pillow. He felt like he'd just barely closed his eyes and the sunlight streaming in through the patio doors was uncomfortably hot and annoying.

Zero's grin widened. If there was one thing that made his own difficulty with mornings more bearable and amusing, it was watching Kaname try to deal with them. The pureblood had the advantage over Zero in just about everything... except when it came to those unique areas of vampire weakness that Zero's human heritage helped protect him against.

"Come on, sleepyhead, it's time to _wakey-wakey_..." Zero egged with a dark grin as he dumped the coffee grounds into a filter and put them in the coffee machine, closing the lid and turning it on to perk. The toast popped up and he put both pieces on a plate, spreading a light film of butter over the hot bread before putting two more slices in to toast.

"Get that smirk out of your tone, Kiriyu, or I'll find something to _breaky-breaky_," Kaname retorted warningly from under the pillow, mimicking Zero's inflection.

Yuki emerged from the bathroom, still in her camisole and pajama pants but with her hair and makeup all done.

"Coffee smells great!" she said cheerily, bouncing into the kitchen to press a warm, good morning kiss against Zero's lips. As she did so, she deftly stole a piece of toast, darting around, out of reach behind him as soon as he'd seen what she'd done. One arm snaked around his waist from behind, her cheek resting against his back as she chewed contentedly on the lightly browned and buttered toast. It made her very happy to have both the boys here with her and she savored the warm, steady beat of Zero's heart under her ear as she munched.

It also didn't hurt that she rarely had to cook when they were around. Zero had always been good in the kitchen and he tended to simply take over naturally, which she found unbelievably sweet. Kaname was pretty good with food too actually, when he wanted to put in the effort. But spending a lot of time in the kitchen wasn't his idea of fun unless it was a special occasion, so he usually preferred to order them expensive take-out.

Zero's arm curled around Yuki's where it rested about his waist, his larger fingers twining with her smaller ones and giving a soft squeeze as he enjoyed the feeling of her body pressed against his back, her breath warm against the light tank-style tee he was wearing over his pajama pants.

"What do you want for breakfast?" he inquired. "Besides _my_ toast?"

Yuki could hear the amused smile in his voice as it rumbled softly beneath her ear. She licked butter off her fingers and pressed a semi-greasy kiss against the back of his neck, nuzzling her face lightly against the silky strands of silver hair that brushed his skin. "Toast is fine. I've got to run this morning, haven't much time."

"Ah, yes, too bad we can't all sleep in like _some _people..." Zero said innocently, sending a meaningful nod towards the bed and its sole occupant.

Yuki giggled and peered around him, following his line of sight. Truly, Kaname was a precious, sometimes hilarious sight in the mornings when he'd not gotten enough sleep. So different from the completely suave and meticulously turned out aristocratic gentleman he was most of the time.

"Mmm, yes, true..." she agreed. Giving Zero another squeeze, she slid out of the kitchen again, shooting Zero a devilish grin as she crossed over to the bed. Leaning down Yuki blew softly against the nape of Kaname's bare neck where it showed beneath the pillow. The hairs stood on end and she smirked at the reaction, grabbing the pillow and tugging it up enough to lay a kiss on the pureblood's cheek.

"Were you calling my singing _noise_ a minute ago, honey?" she asked in an overly sweet tone of voice that heralded danger.

Kaname rolled over onto his back, blinking up at her, the picture of bleary-eyed, charming innocence. "Coffee grinder. Coffee Grinder was noise," he said with perfectly straight face. "You, my princess, sing like a lark." He captured her hand and pressed a warm, sleepy kiss against her knuckles.

Zero chuckled at Kaname's ability to lie oh so convincingly, even when half asleep. "...A lark stuck in a vacuum cleaner..." the ex-human added quietly, but not quietly enough. He ducked the pillow Yuki hurled at him with a laugh.

Kaname groaned again, shading his face from the sun with his hand as he groggily pushed up to sit, leaning against the headboard. "Yuki, _darling, _you know I'd be glad to get you some better shades for this window..." _Since you insist on keeping your bed here where the damn sunlight comes in every morning at the infernal crack of dawn..._

"I like the sunlight coming in to wake me up, Kaname," Yuki pointed out with a fond smile, but she took pity on him and reached behind the transparent, gossamer curtains and tugged the cord to draw a second hidden, sturdier shade across the expanse of the sliding glass patio doors, blocking out the sun and plunging the room back into semi-gloom.

"But after you complained so much last time, I did put this in. That better?" She leaned down to give him a quick kiss.

Zero raised a wry eyebrow at her dangerous move. Didn't Yuki see the sparkle in Kaname's dark gaze? She should know better by now than to tease him when he had that look. Zero had long ago learned the warning signs of when he needed to stay well out of Kaname's reach unless he had an hour or two to waste. The hunter shook his head, but offered no warning.

"Mmm... much..." Kaname murmured in return, arm swiftly snagging around Yuki and pulling her down close to him. Yuki yelped softly in admittedly pleased surprise as she tumbled onto the bed and was swiftly rolled over onto her back, finding herself suddenly trapped under a smiling and delightfully naked pureblood.

Kaname kissed her deeply and Yuki's breath escaped in a rush as their lips tangled. She ran her arm down his strong back, fingers tracing the graceful line of his spine as she returned the kiss for a long moment.

"Um... Kaname... I gotta go, I really, really can't afford to be late for this class again..." she murmured somewhat breathlessly after a moment, starting to slide out from under him. Kaname didn't let her, keeping her pinned where she was, his lips caressing her jaw and sliding down her neck.

"I can make your teacher _think_ you were there..." he teased her, hot mouth trailing down her collarbone. "Say the word and I can make him think you're his top pupil..."

Yuki struggled to breathe normally. Damn... he was sending such fire pounding through her... "Kaname!" she protested, stifling a small moan. "You know I don't want you to do that. I'm making it through on my own or not at all. But if I fail this class I won't be able to graduate this term..."

Kaname's mouth slid down to her stomach, pushing up the hem of her lacy little camisole and tracing hot, languid kisses across her ribs and her abdomen. Yuki shuddered, fingers tangling in Kaname's hair for a moment before she tried again to push him off. Kaname grinned wickedly and blew softly against her moist navel, knowing that she was ticklish.

Yuki giggled and squirmed. "Zero, will you _please_ tell this insatiable, _twit_ that I have to get to class?"

Zero crossed over and knelt on the edge of the bed, by Yuki's head. His pulse was pounding deliciously in his veins from watching his two lovers and he grinned as he bent his head to capture Yuki's lips in a slow, upside-down kiss. He knew he shouldn't, he should help Yuki keep her schedule, he knew how frustrated he got with Kaname when the pureblood did this to him, but...

"Hey, Kaname, she said she's got to get to class," Zero repeated unhelpfully, exploring the warmth of Yuki's mouth as she kissed him back with an eagerness that totally belied her playful protests.

As Zero's hot breath brushed her lips and Kaname's glided slowly lower down her body, Yuki knew she was lost. She groaned softly in her throat. Her hands tangled in their hair, silver in one hand, sepia in the other. _Damn _these two drove her crazy... but she loved it. She loved them. They had had such little time together these past few months; she supposed she didn't really care if she sacrificed a few grades. She wouldn't _really _fail the class over one absence. She was almost done anyway, almost graduated. Much as Yuki had enjoyed college, she looked forward to being finished. Especially since she hoped it would mean she'd have the freedom to spend more time with Zero and Kaname.

They were here with her whenever they could be, but it was usually only weekends or a few weeks here or there, hence the reason she'd been able to talk Kaname into letting her keep this cozy little one-person apartment rather than one of the larger and more ostentatious affairs he would have gladly funded for her. She would have felt lonely, knocking about in all that space by herself when they weren't around. It would have only served to remind herself how much she missed them. Maybe things were a little crammed when the two boys came to stay with her, but they were never there long enough for it to get truly uncomfortable. After all the time apart, it was delicious to be living on top of one another, to be always in one another's paths, at least for a little while.

Of course... it was also _dangerous_... obviously...

Zero's lips trailed down the underside of Yuki's chin and his hand slid under the straps of her thin nightshirt, sliding them almost reverently down her shoulders before his hand slipped below the thin material down to cup her breast, thumb playing warmly across the smooth, delicate skin. Kaname eased her pajamas off her hips, his mouth now tracing indescribable lines of fire along her inner thigh and Yuki was completely gone.

She gasped softly against Zero's warm, full lips as the hunter's strong fingers, lightly callused from his constant work and training slid across the sensitive skin of her breasts. Kaname's hot mouth worked inexorably higher up her thigh, his fangs grazing teasingly across the heat-flushed skin. Zero lightly pinched her right nipple at about the same time that Kaname's tongue did something disturbingly incredible and Yuki whimpered into Zero's mouth, her back arching against the mattress. She swore the two of them worked far too well together, even unconsciously. Wasn't fair. Wasn't fair at all... _mmmmm..._ _but she wasn't complaining..._

It felt like Kaname and Zero were always busy, always away. Kaname tending to his massively sprawling business interests and the needs and duties that his position in the vampire world required. Zero either on assignment for the Hunter's association or on assignment for Kaname, who was not shy about putting the young hunter's ample talents to work as a troubleshooter in tricky situations all over the world. Because they shared a lot of work in common, the hunter and the pureblood saw a lot more of each other than either of them was able to see of her, and Yuki would have been tempted to feel jealous, if they didn't always make it up to her so incredibly beautifully whenever they _were _here.

_To hell with everything else,_ Yuki decided, her knees catching at Kaname's sides, her arms curling up around Zero's shoulders as she hungrily kissed along the open neckline of the hunter's tank-top, lips and tongue tracing the dark lines of the tattoo on his neck. She teased Kaname's bare hips with her feet as she curled her legs around him, running her toes slowly along his thighs and shivering at the growl of pleasure that reverberated through him, buzzing against her skin and singing through her body as he devoured her.

Fire buzzed through Zero's body, pooling deliciously in his gut as Yuki arched and writhed beautifully under his touch, trailing kisses across his skin like a flock of fiery butterflies. He groaned softly as Yuki's teeth bit and nibbled firmly at the side of his neck. She was well aware of how uniquely sensitive both her vampire lovers' necks were and she intentionally worried Zero's bite area with her teeth, making his eyes flutter shut as his heart pounded raggedly. Yuki's teeth were small and blunt, not sharp like Kaname's, and it felt different then it did with another vampire, but her touch created its own type of unique delight.

Some years ago, Zero had been 'tamed' to Yuki, through the tattoo that she was now lavishing with such intense attentions. At moments like this, the ex-human swore that she could and did manipulate him a bit through that connection, because his skin fairly burned under her lips. Or maybe it was just because he loved her so much. Either way, he was quite happily lost to the building pleasure. Yuki's hands reached up over her head, tugging the hem of his tank shirt up his chest, fingers tracing warmly across his stomach.

Yuki's foot slid up Kaname's thigh. His body was hot, flushed with desire under her cool toes. She delightedly rubbed and teased his hard flesh. The pureblood shuddered softly with ragged, pulsing hunger and pleasure, momentarily pausing to press his face against her stomach as his breath rasped against her skin.

"Mmmmmmm..." Kaname's mouth slid down again and he hummed against Yuki's hot skin, letting the vibrations travel through her and elicit another pleased whimper. He glanced up towards where Zero and Yuki were rather passionately making out. It was an intoxicating picture. The hunter's silver hair brushed Yuki's shoulder as he dipped his head. Strong, pale fingers moved across her tanned skin, exhibiting skill with which Kaname was intimately familiar. Yuki's hands were tangled in Zero's shirt and she pulled it off over his head.

The fire inside the pureblood spiraled exponentially, almost unbearably higher, just about hazing out his senses. Nothing like watching the two of them together to make him want to bed them both... _urgently_. There was a time when things were different... when he had a real problem seeing Yuki and Zero together, despite how much he cared about both of them individually and despite his best intentions to the contrary. But now... now that time and faithfully forgiving hearts had had their say, he had a pretty firm peace that neither of them was going to leave him for the other. So Kaname simply reveled in how delightful it was to know that both these delightful, caring, wonderful, sensual people were _his_.

Kaname slid up Yuki's body and Zero slid down. Meeting in the middle they exchanged heated glances, brown eyes and silver both tinged with red, but out of a hunger for something other than blood. The desire thrumming through both brought them together unintentionally and their lips brushed lightly, then more forcefully as they kissed for an intense moment, feeling the pulse pounding in the other's veins. Kaname groaned softly against Zero's mouth as Yuki wrapped her legs around his waist and Zero drank up his shuddering breaths before they separated. Kaname pulled Yuki's camisole down to her stomach, finishing the tantalizing exposition that Zero had started. His mouth fell to her left breast and Zero took her right, their movements unintentionally syncing exotically as they kissed, licked and nibbled her smooth skin.

Yuki moaned delightedly, her legs twining tighter around Kaname's waist, urging, tempting, as her hands slid down Zero's sides, catching in the waistband of his loose pajama pants and pulling them down over his hips. Her hands hooked behind his thighs, pulling him closer and Zero hissed sharply through his teeth in raw delight as her beautiful mouth found new places to explore.

Yuki's head was spinning and her blood pounding in her ears as she gave herself up eagerly to the two men that comprised her whole world and held her heart completely and utterly between them. Sometimes she felt she'd no right to be this happy, felt it must be completely sinful to have this much raw joy in her life. But she didn't care. These two were her heaven, her heart, her soul, her life.

Microeconomics could _so _wait.

* * *

Yuki lay exhausted and deliciously sated on the bed, comfortably sandwiched between Kaname and Zero, their bodies tangled together in a warm, intimate sprawl so that it was hard to tell where one began and the other ended. Kind of like their hearts and their souls.

Kaname was spooned against her back, his knee hooked comfortably over her hip. He was leaning partially upright on one elbow, long fingers tracing slow, delicate patterns against Yuki's shoulder and arm and gliding over to trace them across Zero's skin as well as he lay on the other side, facing her. Zero's knee rested contentedly between Yuki's warm thighs, his arm wrapped around her waist and his hand resting on Kaname's hip.

Kaname caught Zero's eye and gave him an adoring look. "Hey, you have something, right there... no, over a little..." Kaname murmured with a grin, gesturing to Zero's mouth, but then shaking his head. "Never mind, I'll get it..." Zero had Yuki's lipstick smudged across one corner of his mouth and Kaname leaned over to slowly lick and kiss it away from the hunter's skin. Kaname was usually incredibly mellow and lazily playful after this kind of... exertion.

Zero instinctually leaned up a little, into the caress, allowing the sweet kiss to linger deliciously between them. Time had accustomed him to Kaname's ways, and gradually drawn him to enjoy them. He murmured softly in his throat as the kiss deepened a bit, unintentionally, or perhaps intentionally, rolling a little closer against Yuki so her warm, round breasts rubbed against him.

Yuki smiled deeply as she lay nestled between the two vampires, watching them kiss with fond, exhausted contentment. Kaname and Zero had been hesitant, at first, to be intimate with each other when they were around her, embarrassed and probably afraid what she would think, even though they knew she knew about them. Of course, it had been the same way with her and Kaname and her and Zero too... all of them kind of shuffling and stepping around one another as if not sure where to draw lines and boundaries and where to tear them down, not sure where to step to not hurt someone else or how to deal with certain flares of jealousy and natural possessiveness. Initially, finding a balance in this crazy lifestyle of theirs had been awkward, confusing and often downright painful. It had been like trying to walk on rice paper without tearing it – almost impossible. There had been a lot of moments of intense hurt, misunderstanding and uncertainty when it felt like they were nuts to think this could ever work. But gradually, time and familiarity had worn away some of the edges and let the three of them find their comfort zones together.

Even so, Kaname and Zero had still been hesitant to be like this with each other when she was around until Yuki finally flat out informed them that it did not bother her in the _least_ to see them together and in fact, quite frankly it made her hot as hell, so would they please just get over it already.

_Mmm... _right now it was making Yuki a little _too _hot. She laughed softly. "Hey, guys, come up for air before you make me want to miss my afternoon classes too, will you?" she teased them.

Kaname and Zero seemed in no hurry to finish their kiss, but they eventually separated, sharing an amused grin. Usually, the three of them were with each other a little more separately and discretely, but sometimes... like this morning... the mood was right and life was just beautiful.

A half hour later, Yuki had finally managed to get all the way dressed, including having to reapply her makeup and redo her hair. Zero and Kaname were semi-decent, still topless and barefoot, but at least now both wearing pajama pants. Zero poured coffee for the three of them, putting Yuki's in a to-go mug

since she had to leave now in order to make her next class in time. He put in the amount of cream and sugar that he knew she liked and screwed the top on, passing it to her as she set her purse and book bag down on the counter, grabbing an apple from the fridge to eat on the way.

"You'll be okay, right?" he asked her quietly as he removed the two now cold pieces of toast still sitting in the toaster from earlier, slid them into a plastic bag and tucked them into her backpack for a snack later, should she want one. He knew they usually had butter, cream cheese and other fixings for free at the university commissary. "I mean, I'm sorry about making you miss this morning..."

Yuki grinned. "No you're not," she teased, although she knew that he was, a little. Zero was always responsible like that. It was sweet. She kissed him on the cheek and arranged her book bag, purse apple and coffee and headed for the door. Kaname beat her to it and opened it for her, so she didn't have to juggle everything she was carrying. Yuki was by now used to his speed and having him pop up where he hadn't been a moment ago and she gave him a smile, leaning up to kiss him on the chin before she stepped out into the hallway.

"I'll be back in a couple hours!" she called as she jogged off.

Kaname watched her through the door until she was out of sight and then let it close. He stretched and yawned, reminding Zero of a cat who was trying to wake up. He was obviously still tired, despite having been perfectly awake enough to be a completely demanding lover, but that was Kaname for you. Zero silently placed the mug of coffee he'd poured for the pureblood in Kaname's hands. Black, the way he liked it. Kaname's fingers curled around it gratefully and he took a deep sip. It was very hot, almost hot enough to burn, but that was also the way Kaname liked it, so Zero didn't warn him.

The hunter kept his own mug cupped in his hands for the moment, waiting for it to cool a little. Zero knew that Kaname had more reason than usual to be feeling tired. He hadn't mentioned it to Yuki, because she would have fussed and he knew Kaname hated wasting any of the precious time they had together, but Kaname had had a long week. The pureblood had double-packed his schedule in order to be able to take some time off to be here. He'd stayed up a day or two working and getting things ready for... for whatever the important, business-y things it was he did. Zero didn't pretend to try to keep up with Kaname's business wheeling's and dealings unless they concerned something he was working on. Kaname used to try to explain things to him, but it just gave Zero a headache.

The pureblood had then had a business meeting in New York, followed by one in London, but between there there'd been an emergency that sent him rushing down to Brazil in order to stave off some near disaster. After London, he'd come back here, toting a load of business associates along with him on his private jet so they could continue working while in flight and he would waste less time. The end result was that save for the three hours he'd gotten last night between the couch and the bed, the pureblood hadn't really slept for more than an hour or two in about five days. Kaname could, and often did, go long periods without needing rest, but Zero knew that five whole days was still pushing it, even for him.

"How'd the movie end last night?" Kaname inquired conversationally as he continued to sip slowly at his coffee. Kaname, proving how tired he was, had fallen asleep on the couch, on Yuki's shoulder, barely halfway through the movie the three of them had been watching together. Actually, Kaname usually fell asleep when they were watching television. Yuki and Zero sometimes took bets behind his back how long he'd last before he dozed off. With the hectic schedule he kept, it wasn't much of a surprise that any long periods of sitting down without need for serious mental activity tended to put him out like a light. It was a sign of how much he trusted the people he was with, and how comfortable they made him that he was able to let go like that. Zero didn't think that Kaname had missed much last night though.

The hunter raised his eyebrows at Kaname's question. "Uh... the guy and the girl got together again," he summarized in a nutshell. It had been Yuki's turn to pick the movies and while Zero tolerated her choices of entertainment, they certainly didn't stick in his head. Romantic comedy was not really his thing, and he was positive Yuki had only chosen the old movie because she was on a Johnny Depp kick this week. Zero was not oblivious to the fact that the actor had been in both the movies Yuki had selected.

Kaname shot Zero a look. "Wow. That's... deep, Zero," he teased him wryly. "Remind me not to ask you to write up any reports for me unless there's a ten word limit. I could have _told _you that was going to happen, that's the best you can do?"

Zero scowled and shook his head, finally taking a sip of his own coffee. "Oh come on, don't tell me you actually _care _about the details... that movie was a total chick flick."

Kaname chuckled. No, he didn't care, but any excuse to give Zero grief was a good one. He didn't really watch television that much unless he was with Yuki or Zero, actually. He preferred reading personally, but he _did _enjoy cuddling on the couch with both of them and he found it interesting to note the vast differences between what his two lovers enjoyed in their entertainment.

"Well it's your turn to pick tonight, so I'm sure we'll end up with something that has more explosions and less relationship angst," Kaname said with a dry twinkle in his eye as he finished his coffee. The pureblood set down his empty cup and rubbed his face, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"You should go back to bed and rest until Yuki comes back," Zero suggested quietly. He could tell how tired Kaname was. "We've got all afternoon free."

Kaname smiled and shook his head. "I'm fine," he said as he rose from his chair. He crossed around behind Zero, arms resting lightly on the other's shoulders as he leaned on the back of Zero's chair, resting his face against the side of the hunter's neck. "But bed does sound good, if you're coming with me..." he murmured suggestively. Zero'd been looking damn hot earlier, but their attention had mainly been focused on Yuki. Kaname was interested in rectifying the lack of attention...

Zero laughed, trying to ignore the warm little shiver that ran down his spine. He gave Kaname's head a playful shove. "Kaname... we just got _out _of bed. You know, Yuki's right, you _are _an insatiable twit!" he growled in fond frustration.

Zero's body reacted quite strongly as he suddenly felt Kaname's teeth graze his neck lightly and Zero set his coffee cup down to keep from accidentally dropping it as he shuddered. "Kaname, you should get some sleep while you can..." he protested, but Kaname could feel Zero's pulse winding up to a hard pitch in the veins throbbing so deliciously under the pureblood's fangs.

"Sleeping's boring," Kaname replied in a husky voice that somehow managed to make words befitting a petulant two-year-old sound alluring. "And like you said, we have all afternoon..." He kissed Zero's neck

passionately and as Zero's blood ran hot with familiar fire he dipped his head back, fingers tangling in Kaname's hair.

"Kaname, life with you is _never _boring..." Zero muttered ruefully as he traced his lips down Kaname's throat, the pureblood's long fingers gliding down his chest...


	2. Mayday

_A/N: In case anyone was wondering, the title of this story actually comes from the chorus of the same song that Yuki was singing in the first chapter which is called "I'm Gonna Be" by the Proclaimers. Yes, I'm dating myself, I know it's a really old song, but it, eh... has special significance later on in the story. ;) Also, in case anyone really wanted to know (you probably don't, but I'm going to tell you anyway) the movie they were watching that had the song in the credit track and which Zero summarized so... descriptively... was "Benny and Joon". Thank you to everyone who has reviewed! Don't forget to check the review responses forum for individual replies. :)_

**Chapter Two: "Mayday"**

There was a sound of digital chirping and Kaname lifted his head from where it was refsting against Zero's chest. They'd spent a delicious afternoon in one another's arms, and Kaname, even more completely exhausted than before, had been on the verge of dozing off to the warm, steady sound of his lover's heartbeat.

Zero, half-way to dozing himself, gave a soft groan of protest. He knew that sound – it was Kaname's cell phone. "I thought you were going to turn that off while we were here..." he mumbled, regretting the loss of Kaname's warm body as the pureblood dragged himself up and slid from under the sheets, padding over to where he'd left his phone on Yuki's dresser.

Kaname, comfortably naked and not caring in current company, shot Zero a look that was trying to be guilty, but didn't quite manage it as flipped the phone open. The truth was he simply hadn't thought anyone would call. This was his private number, and anyone who had it knew better than to disturb him when he'd indicated very clearly that he was going to be _out _and was _not _to be disturbed. The fact that someone _was_ calling, and the caller ID indicated one of his branch office locations, could only mean that there was some kind of emergency, hence the reason he was answering.

"What?" Kaname demanded quietly by way of greeting as he held the phone to his ear. It'd _better_ be an emergency, or whoever had called was fired.

Zero watched Kaname's posture change from relaxed to tense as he listened to the voice on the other end of the line and the hunter pushed up to sit, leaning against the headboard and pulling the sheets with him as his brows furrowed in a questioning frown. Kaname kept his phone volume intentionally turned down so low that only a vampire holding the phone could hear it – to prevent other vampires from overhearing his business when he was in public. So Zero couldn't hear what was being said, but he could read in his friend's face that it was nothing good.

Kaname looked peeved, maybe even a little frustrated. "I thought this might happen. No, you acted correctly." He sighed. "This is something I'll have to handle personally. I sent the jet back to corporate. It'll waste time flying it back out here. Get me a commercial flight out, immediately, and send the jet to pick me up. I have to be back here by Saturday. If we can't work the situation out by then, then they can go to hell and I'm dumping the whole operation." Kaname's voice was tense. He obviously didn't want to have to sacrifice whatever operation he was speaking about, but he was sure as hell not missing Yuki's graduation.

Zero tipped his head back against the headboard with a look of resigned disappointment. Kaname was leaving... Yuki wasn't going to be happy. Zero started when his own phone started ringing. He would have ignored it, except that Kaname was already up and on the phone and something made him scoot out from under the warm covers and glance at the caller ID. It was the hunter association's dispatch 

number. Well _hell... _he could ignore them, but he probably shouldn't. Damning his own sense of duty, he resignedly he thumbed the talk button and took the call. He was curious too... it was a little _too _coincidental that both he and Kaname had been called at more or less the same time.

Kaname got off the phone first and was already in the shower by the time Zero's call ended. He emerged a few minutes later to find Zero partially dressed, obviously waiting for the shower, and tucking things into his duffel bag. Zero did not look happy.

Kaname watched him for a moment. "I have to go," he finally said quietly as he started dressing, feeling no more pleased about it than Zero looked.

"There's been another flurry of guerilla attacks in São Paulo. Amid a lot of other general damage, we lost a critical supply convoy and now Mayor Covas is trying to use it as an excuse to weasel out of our contract, _after _having accepted the millions of dollars I've poured into his crummy little state." The city of São Paulo was the biggest city on the American Continent, but Kaname was speaking of the state, not just the city, and he was obviously peeved. He'd already made one emergency detour to Brazil this week, it completely put him out that he had to go all the way back there again, but this deal was too big to let it fall apart, and too delicate to entrust to anyone else.

"He says my failing to protect our joint business ventures nullifies the agreement." Kaname shrugged into his jacket. "Which might almost be a valid point, except that my operatives inform me his men torched that convoy themselves, under the cover of the other riots." The pureblood rolled his eyes. "He's an ass and a fool. If he's going to waste my time like this, he could have at least tried to be a _little _clever about it. But, as it is, this isn't something I can confront him with over the phone, and the situation's too volatile to send anyone else."

Kaname ran his fingers through his hair with a sigh. He had a lot of money tied up in trying to gain a foothold into that continent, one of the few places to which Kuran Corporations reach did not yet extend. He wasn't willing to give that up without a fight, but the timing sucked.

"Yeah," Zero replied, mirroring Kaname's put-out expression, but not because he was upset with the pureblood. "I know. I just got a call from the hunter's association. Seems some of the deaths in those riots were obvious vamp kills and they've got reason to believe that there's at least one vampire running with the rebels who has recently fallen to Level E status." That could definitely explain why the violence of the guerilla attacks had increased so sharply and the casualties had skyrocketed. As long as the rebels were letting the Level E sate his or her raging blood lust on the victims of their riots, then the crazy vampire would probably continue to run with them for now, but the situation would no doubt degrade swiftly and Zero had been ordered to make it an immediate priority.

Kaname shot Zero an unsurprised, but sympathetic look. Zero guessed he'd probably known already about the suspected Level E involvement, but he also guessed that for once, Kaname wasn't the one who had asked for him to be assigned. "So they're sending you." It wasn't a question. "I thought you could specify when you wanted time off."

Zero shrugged, zipping his duffel closed. "Yeah, about as well as you can, apparently," he said ruefully. "It's an urgent situation, people are dying and hell, Kaname, the association isn't stupid. They know you're trying to get your claws into that country and they know better than to send any other hunter onto your turf."

"Well, at least we can take the same flight then," Kaname quirked a wry almost-grin before sobering again. "I'm sorry, Zero. I wouldn't have asked you to go," he said quietly. At least one of them should have been able to stay here with Yuki, she was going to be so disappointed and he hated that.

Zero shrugged again. "I know," he said quietly. He turned, gaze fixing momentarily on Kaname. He supposed he could have ticked off his superiors and said no, he wasn't their slave after all and he _did _have the right to refuse runs he didn't want. He knew Kaname would have tolerated another hunter operating on his territory this once, considering the situation. But... the situation wasn't that simple, and the brief overview that the Dispatcher had given him on the current state of affairs down there made him uneasy. It sounded like Kaname was heading into a dangerous situation with a government that was foolish enough to think they could use him and then double cross him. Zero didn't like it. He knew Kuran was perfectly capable of taking care of himself but... it was so far away. If something went wrong, it would be a day or more before he could get out there. He would feel a whole lot better about it if he was in the same area, ready to have Kaname's back if needed, even if their missions were different.

He felt guilty as hell about Yuki though.

"Graduation isn't until next Saturday. We have a week," Kaname said quietly, as if reading Zero's thoughts on his face. "We'll make sure we're back by then, and then we'll have plenty of time to spend with her afterwards." They had a nearly month-long trip for the three of them planned as a surprise present for her upcoming graduation. That was part of why Kaname needed to deal with this situation _now_. He would NOT have it interrupting them on their vacation afterwards. "She'll understand."

Zero looked away with a small sigh. Yes, she would, she always did, but he still felt bad. "As long as we're back in time, I guess," he agreed slowly, heading for the bathroom to take his own shower.

* * *

Yuki sighed as she turned onto the sidewalk leading up to her apartment. It was bitterly depressing to know that Kaname and Zero wouldn't be there anymore. They'd crashed her class a few hours ago to tell her what was going on before they left. She'd been extremely disappointed that they were leaving so soon, but she could see that they were too and she hadn't been upset. It wasn't the first time this had happened. Kaname and Zero had busy lives and people depended on them each in different ways, she knew that. Didn't make the loneliness any easier to swallow. Her friends at school had tried to coax her into going out with them this evening, but she didn't feel like it. She wanted to curl up in front of the TV with ice cream and sulk a little.

They had given her her surprise present early though... and the promise of being able to spend all that uninterrupted time with them after graduation helped ease the pain considerably. She was still a bit irked, but willing to have to be patient. It was just a week, right? They'd promised they'd be back by next Saturday, and they'd yet to ever break a promise to her. She could wait a week.

Besides... if they had to go, part of her was actually glad they had gone together. She didn't have to worry about them so much when they had each other's backs. She wondered if they were in the air already.

Her steps slowed as she noticed a flashy sports car that probably cost more than all the other cars in the lot combined, double parked nearby. She knew it didn't belong to anyone in the building and idly wondered who had a visitor. Then she saw the two young men emerging from it when they spotted her approach and she realized that _she_ did. Both of the new arrivals had fashionably wild hair and were dressed in preppy chic that looked good on them without looking overly snobbish. Yuki smiled despite herself in surprise.

"Kain! Aido! What are you doing here?" she hadn't seen them in several years. Both vampires gave her a friendly hug of greeting... Aido's intentionally lingering long enough to make her flush a little as he turned his head and sniffed her neck. Not threateningly, just teasingly.

She smacked his shoulder lightly as she pulled back, giving him an amused look that was resisting being flustered. Something about the blonde vampire always made her feel like she was 16 again and he was giving her a hard time. But she was very fond of both cousins.

"It's good to see you both... well," she amended, shooting Aido a look before turning to Kain. "It's good to see _you _anyway. Kaname ask you to come over?"

The question was matter-of-fact, and the way the two vampires hesitated, tripping over a correct response confirmed its truth. Yuki supposed she should be ticked that Kaname was trying to send her replacements, but she knew that wasn't the case. He just didn't want her to be lonely; she couldn't blame him for that, even if he sometimes had an ass backwards way of going about things.

"Wanna go for a ride?" Kain asked, nodding back towards the hot little sports car when it became obvious that Yuki didn't actually need an answer to her question.

Yuki really wanted to be alone, but then again... maybe she didn't, and she couldn't bring herself to be rude after these two had driven all the way out here. She glanced thoughtfully at the car, then grinned. "Sure, if I'm driving."

"No way, that's my car!" Aido protested, but Kain tossed her the keys.

"OUR car," he corrected with a smile. "I own half of it, and she can drive if she wants to."

Yuki couldn't help grinning as the two bickered lightly all the way to the vehicle.

* * *

_"Flight 1246 now boarding at Gate 10..."_ the polite, female voice droned over the PA system, but Zero wasn't paying attention as he stood by the ticket counter next to Kaname. He had his duffel slung over one shoulder. It was compact enough to be considered carry-on and he didn't have any checked luggage. He liked to travel light. Kaname usually had more luggage but since this was an unplanned occurrence, he was also going with only a carryon bag, which was good because there was only one flight leaving for Brazil today and it should have already departed, save that Kaname's people had actually gotten it to halt on the runway and wait for them. It was handy, occasionally, to have that kind of power.

Just at the moment, though, Zero was trying very hard to pretend that he didn't know the man he was standing next to. If he could have moved to another ticket counter... or perhaps another airport... he would have. Kaname was giving the lady behind the ticket counter hell and Zero was embarrassed. The airlines had nothing available in First Class, only coach. And they couldn't even get seats together. The flight was packed, the plane had already been held for thirty minutes on the runway just so that Kaname and Zero could make it on time and none of the cranky passengers in First Class were about to move to coach for the long flight no matter how much monetary incentive was being offered. If you could afford First Class to start with on a flight this expensive, money was much less of an issue than comfort and no one was willing to give that up. The shaken, apologetic lady behind the counter insisted there wasn't anything she could do short of pulling two other passengers off the plane.

Zero was afraid Kaname was going to insist that she do just that and he quickly laid a hand on Kaname's arm. He knew the pureblood hadn't slept in days and upset at having to leave, but taking it out on the ticket lady wouldn't help and Zero's ears were flushing pink at the way people were staring at them. It completely embarrassed the hell out of him when Kaname went off on people like this over something that to Zero seemed trivial and that made them sound so hideously arrogant and spoiled. _Geez... it wasn't that big a deal. Not like it would kill Kaname to fly coach once in his life. _

"Kaname, _please_..." he muttered in frustrated mortification. "Let's just take the damn tickets and go. It's just one flight."

Kaname shot him a frown. Zero had an objectionable habit of letting people walk all over him if it made the situation more pleasant and tolerable for everyone. That was not one of the pureblood's traits, nor was it likely to ever be. But... maybe this once, he was right. Kaname was dead tired, he intended to sleep the entire flight anyway and he was so exhausted he could _probably_ sleep anywhere. It was more worthwhile to just _go _and get this over with.

Zero could see in Kaname's eyes that he was actually going to listen to him and he felt a small surge of relief.

"Fine," Kaname muttered, reaching over and snatching the tickets from the lady behind the counter. "Fine, we'll take these. I'll take it up with the airline later." They'd better give him a complete refund for his and Zero's tickets after this, or he'd buy the whole bloody airlines just so he could fire them all. He rubbed his aching eyes as he stalked away with Zero trailing after him. He pondered the fact that maybe he was a _wee _bit on the over-tired and cranky side at the moment. He'd better wait to make any important decisions until he didn't feel like ripping someone's throat out.

"Hey, you okay?" Zero asked, giving Kaname a concerned look as they walked down the gangway to where the plane had been pulled back in for them to board.

Zero's quiet voice and the light, gentle hand on his arm helped calm Kaname some. The pureblood nodded with a small sigh. "Yes, I'm just tired. Don't worry, I'll sleep on the plane and I'll be fine."

The other passengers were well aware that they had been held up waiting for the late arrivals, and the looks Kaname and Zero got when they boarded the plane, making their way towards the rear for their seats, were less than friendly. Their separate seats were in the very back of the plane and they had to walk the entire length. Zero kept his eyes down and tried not to look at anyone. Kaname pulled an aura, subtly dropping the temperature in the cabin and glaring at anyone who dared glare at them as 

they passed. The other passengers quickly looked away, not understanding the feeling of crawling dread that shot up their spines and settled in their stomachs, but completely distracted by it.

It was too much for a small family seated near the front of the coach section. The mother, already afraid of flying and unbearably nervous, started having a panic attack and the two young kids freaked out completely, leaving the poor father to try and calm all three of them without success. They ended up having to leave the plane entirely before the woman went ballistic. They couldn't know it yet, but this was one flight they were going to be very glad they had skipped.

Kaname saw them leaving and retraced back up the aisle, his hand on Zero's arm drawing him along. "Looks like these seats just opened up," he said simply as he tucked his carry-on into the overhead compartment and nodded towards the row of recently vacated seats. They were nearer the front of the plane and they were together. He obviously saw nothing wrong with taking them now that they had been abandoned.

Zero didn't argue only because it would just have caused more of a scene and he wanted pretty desperately to be forgotten just at the moment. He slipped into the window seat, knowing Kaname preferred sitting on the aisle side, and slumped down in his chair as if he'd like to disappear into it, face flaming.

Kaname settled next to him, shooting him a curious look when Zero glared at him. "What?"

Zero snorted softly. "I can't take you _anywhere,_ you know that? I swear, if you pull a stunt like that and cause a panic when we're at 30,000 feet I am _never _flying with you again."

Kaname looked mildly amused, rather than offended. Zero was cute when he was angry, even cuter when he was embarrassed. Kaname loved the way his ears turned all pink, his heart rate increased and his scent changed subtly. It was quite intoxicating actually.

"Take me? And here I thought I was the one taking you..."

Zero scowled. "I'll pay you back. You know the Association covers my travel expenses." Zero hesitated, scowl faltering despite himself when Kaname fixed him with those warm, dark, meaningful eyes of his.

"That wasn't what I meant," the pureblood murmured with a soft, deep, suggestive smile that drew a warm shiver from the hunter. Kaname briefly wondered if they could fit two people into the airplane's lavatory, but that sounded like an adventure for another time. He really did need to get some sleep.

Zero swallowed and turned to stare at the back of the seat in front of him, trying to keep his internal body heat down. Kaname heard him mutter something that sounded like "twit" and the pureblood chuckled.

Once they were in the air, Kaname laid his seat back as far as it would go – all whopping two and a half inches of it – and closed his eyes. He was exhausted, but he was still finding it hard to sleep. It was hard for him to relax when surrounded by so many strangers, hard to let his guard down enough to rest. There were so many people crammed into the relatively small space around him. The scent of all those humans mingled together, the sound of their talking, shifting and movement as clear as if he was sitting next to each one of them, and the sensations that being aware of their emotions and even just their existence caused in his extra senses was harder than usual to ignore in his current state.

There was a baby a few rows back that would _not _stop crying and a woman gossiping with her friend about a rather lewd night on the town across the aisle. A couple somewhere nearby was having a tense argument – the man was lying, Kaname could tell by the guilty, angry sensation rolling off of him, in contrast to the hot, hormonal energy rolling off another couple closer at hand. Kaname wished _they _would just use the lavatory and get it over with, it was driving him crazy. _Then_ of course there was the damn teenage kid in front of them that was chewing his gum with a loud, disgusting smacking sound while listening to heavy metal on his iPod which was cranked up high enough (in Kaname's opinion) to wake the dead. The pureblood was starting to get a really nasty headache.

Zero looked up from where he was leafing disinterestedly through the in flight magazine and glanced over at Kaname. He could read tension and discomfort in every line of the pureblood's apparently relaxed body. He frowned slightly. He knew Kaname had issues with lowering his guard enough to sleep in public, which was why he didn't usually sleep on planes. He also knew Kaname didn't like crowds in general, and he knew why. The pureblood's senses were so keen it wore him out to be around that much input for long periods of time. Zero also realized that was probably one of the reasons he preferred to fly First Class. More room, less people jammed in so closely around him. Usually, Kaname was perfectly able to tune his extra senses out when they were too much to deal with, but Zero knew from experience that the pureblood was less able to do so the more worn out he was.

Drink service was coming around. Kaname ignored them, pretending he was asleep like he wanted to be, but Zero got a cup of hot water. Shunning the little red tea bag that came with it, he reached down and opened a side pocket of the duffel under his feet. He sorted carefully past the non threatening looking assortment of pens and what looked to the rest of the world like trinkets of jewelry, all of which were actually potent anti-vampire charms. It was impossible for him to bring his gun or knives when he flew commercially, especially when he didn't have time to bring checked baggage, but many objects could be created or charmed with anti-vampire abilities. So the hunters simply started producing things that would pass airport security. They weren't really as useful as actual _weapons _but it was better than traveling with nothing until Zero was able to get his feet on the ground and get his hands on his real weapons which were either shipped ahead, or stored in a cache box at various locations. The emergency backups had saved his life at least once. Of course... Kaname had also accidently learned the hard way to not go searching for a pen in Zero's bag.

Zero found what he was looking for and fished out a small plastic zippy bag of what looked like herbal tea. Scooping a few pinches of it into the hot water, he zipped the bag and tucked it away again. He waited until the herb leaves had unfolded in the bottom of the cup and the water had colored to a light amber hue and then reached over, giving Kaname a small poke and holding the steaming cup out to him.

Kaname opened one eye with an accusing look at being disturbed, but he was already curiously sniffing the air, having been wondering what Zero was brewing.

"I made you some tea," Zero said quietly. "It'll help."

Kaname looked at it a little suspiciously as he took it, bringing it in close to sniff it and taste it with his tongue. "What is it?" He was ready to bet it wasn't regular tea, but he couldn't place what it was.

Zero could have just told him, but instead he looked at Kaname. "If you trust me, then drink it."

Kaname drank it. He didn't like when Zero put him on the spot like that, but the fact was he did trust him, implicitly, and he knew it was important to the hunter to know that. By the time he'd finished the tea, Kaname felt a comfortable warmth spreading through him and the noise, chatter and grating sensations of the people all around him started to fade blessedly. He raised a sleepy, grateful eyebrow as he sank back in his seat again, head turned towards Zero.

"Nice..." he murmured softly. Zero was right, it did help. "What is it?" he repeated, still curious.

"It's just a tea mix I made. It's got some natural sleep aids and it dampens vampire senses, I thought it might help you rest," he said quietly. He knew Kaname didn't like things that messed with his natural abilities, which was why he hadn't told him _before_ he drank it.

Kaname was too sleepy and comfortable now to be upset that Zero had essentially drugged him. "You used one of your anti-vampire potions on me?" he raised an eyebrow, a thin thread of anxiety briefly flaring behind his tired brown eyes. Not because of Zero. He trusted Zero... but having his defenses lowered on a plane full of strangers...

"Only a very, very little bit," Zero promised. It was only the equivalent of a human taking a normal sleep aid. "It wasn't enough to mess with your abilities, just your senses. It'll wear off in a few hours."

He leaned over and kissed Kaname's forehead lightly.

"I'll be right here," he whispered softly. _You'll be fine, I won't let anything happen to you. _The rest of the promise was unspoken so as not to bend Kaname's pride out of shape, but it was clear in Zero's eyes. He wouldn't leave Kaname's side while the drug was still in effect. He'd be Kaname's senses for him so the pureblood could let go and get the sleep he obviously needed so much.

As long as it was unspoken, Kaname could accept that, and he did, gratefully. He really needed to rest and only with Zero did he feel safe enough to let go and do that, even in a situation like this.

"Okay," Kaname murmured, his eyes sliding shut. _Thanks. _

Kaname's body slowly relaxed in slumber, and when his head started to slump awkwardly to the side, Zero carefully tipped it to rest on his shoulder, fingers sliding gently through the dark brown hair for a moment before he finally turned his attention back to the magazine resting on his lap. There was a warm, comfortable ache in his chest. It felt... good... that he could be a safe place for Kaname like this sometimes. The pureblood seemed so indestructible and strong, but Zero knew that the strongest of warriors still needed somewhere they could lay down their swords for a while.

Unconsciously, Zero's head tipped slightly to the side so his cheek could rest against the top of Kaname's head as he read.

* * *

Kaname slept soundly through a good portion of the long flight, even after the drugs in his system wore off, and it was Zero's turn to be dozing on the pureblood's shoulder when a loud, disturbing sound shuddered through the aircraft, tearing him from his light slumber.

Zero sat up quickly, wondering for a moment if he had imagined or dreamed it, but the tension he felt flooding the cabin and the alarmed clamor of the other passengers voices quickly told him he hadn't. He looked quickly to Kaname, who was sitting very straight beside him. The pureblood's face was calm and impassive, giving away nothing, but Zero knew that that meant little.

"Kaname?" he inquired, turning to glance out the window and wondering how long he'd been asleep. He glanced out the window, seeing around the spotty cover of the clouds no longer the blue of the ocean beneath them, but instead the vast browns and rich greens of sparsely populated jungle terrain.

"Something's wrong," Kaname answered quietly. "I smell much more jet fuel than a few minutes ago, and smoke. The airplane is losing altitude and it's dragging a bit to the right. I think we lost an engine," the pureblood said calmly. His tone was more appropriate for discussing the possibility of an afternoon shower than the reality that they were God knew how many thousands of feet in the air in a ten-ton hunk of flying metal that had probably just lost one of the things _keeping _it in the air.

Zero resisted the urge to scowl at Kaname for speaking like that. He knew it was the pureblood's way. Kaname emotionally shut down in the face of danger to keep his head cool and his thoughts clear, it was almost instinctual. And anyway, panicking really wouldn't help anything, would it?

The plane was rocking like it was encountering severe turbulence. Zero felt his stomach clench in fear, but he tamped it down, also knowing the benefits of keeping a clear head.

"How far are we from São Paulo?" Planes could lose an engine and keep going… they were made to compensate for that kind of thing, right?

"Still a good ways out," Kaname replied distractedly. He was looking intently towards the front of the plane and Zero bet he was trying to hear what was happening in the cockpit. "We've been over land for a while, but I believe we just crossed over into Brazil a few minutes ago."

The stewardess came on over the com system to assure the passengers that everything was all right and point out that the fasten seat belts light had been turned back on and could everyone please return to their seats at this time.

"She's afraid," Kaname mused quietly. "The pilots too. Something's going wrong up there. There's a short, some kind of electrical fire in the control circuits..."

Zero _really _didn't want to know that.

There was another loud screeching sound and the plane jerked crazily. This time Zero smelt the instant surge of jet fuel and smoke in the air as well and his head jerked back to the small window beside him. Several passengers on this side of the plane started screaming. You didn't have to be a vampire to know something was wrong with one of the engines this time. The wing mounted engine was trailing black smoke, flames licking up at the wing despite the way the wind was whipping wildly at them.

The aircraft jolted again and everyone's ears popped as the cabin pressure shifted. Breath masks dropped from the ceiling above each of the seats, causing another chorus of shrieks from the already alarmed passengers who didn't immediately realize what they were.

The plane was angling down steeply now in an obviously barely controlled dive. One engine they could have probably survived, but not two and the ensuing fire. This plane needed to land, immediately, but there was nowhere _to _land.

Most of the passengers were scrabbling for the breath masks, but Zero didn't bother and he noticed Kaname wasn't either. The oxygen in the cabin hadn't really thinned that much, and at the rate they were descending, they'd be back in breathable atmosphere before too long. They'd also be in about a million tiny pieces.

The captain was on the intercom now, telling the passengers in a tensely controlled voice that they were going to have to make an emergency landing and that everyone needed to brace for impact. The shaky, but determined voice of the stewardess reminded everyone of the emergency landing postures printed on the back of the preflight briefing card that everyone had pretty much ignored.

_Keep seat belts fastened. Bend all the way forward and wrap your arms around your knees, or cross your wrists and hold onto the back of the seat in front of you, keeping your head down. Don't try to take anything off the plane with you when you leave..._

Kaname wondered if anyone was listening. Then he supposed it didn't really matter. The mantra of preparation was nothing but a way to give the doomed passengers a sense of being able to do something, when in reality, there was nothing they could do now to control their own fates. Most of them seemed to realize that.

Zero felt his stomach lurch, like the first drop on a roller coaster, only prolonged and much more terrifying. Because there was only one end to this ride and he knew it. Panic hazed momentarily through his senses, but he sucked his breath in slowly, forcing his racing heart to remain under control. Losing it wasn't going to help matters. Vampires were very sensitive to fear in others, it tended to make the crazy ones more aggressive, so Zero had learned some time ago as a hunter that controlling his fear was important. That stood him in good stead now as the plane hurtled towards the ground and he managed not to hyperventilate.

People were crying, praying and screaming almost loud enough to obscure the rattling screech of the shaking plane. The aircraft lurched sickeningly and most of the overhead hatches on the right hand side of the plane snapped open, throwing carryon bags and suitcases into the opposite side of the cabin, eliciting even more shrieks and chaos.

Kaname smelt blood from multiple sources. The roar of intense emotion filling the falling plane pounded in his sensitive extra senses like a migraine the size of a freight train. The dangling clear and yellow oxygen mask nearby twapped frenetically against the side of his face and he yanked it out of the ceiling with a distracted gesture.

"Kaname..." Zero's voice was very quiet, tensely controlled. He was afraid, Kaname could smell it, a more familiar scent among the positive reek of human terror that filled the cabin. The hunter was afraid, but not panicked. He watched the verdant, jungle terrain rushing up swiftly towards them with the forced calm of one who accepted with dignity a destiny they could not change.

Zero slipped his hand into Kaname's as they sat next to one another, tearing his gaze away from the doom rushing towards them. "I..."

Kaname squeezed his fingers tightly, reaching over and cupping Zero's cheek with his free hand. "I know," he whispered.

Kaname's face was grim as his gaze once again skirted briefly across the panicked, crying passengers around him. He'd already done the math in his head. _Trajectory, speed, terrain, likely amount of fuel remaining in the tanks..._ These people were right to be afraid. They were dead and just didn't know it yet. In a matter of moments, everyone here was going to be obliterated.

Nothing from this plane would survive the impact. Nothing... but the pureblood.

Kaname tried to ignore the wailing of the baby a few rows back, which now made him sick at heart instead of giving him a headache. There was nothing he could do for any of these people. He would only just be able to save himself... _hopefully..._ and even that wasn't enough. Kaname's gaze locked back on Zero. Zero didn't have his abilities or a pureblood's regenerative power. He would not survive the crash. Kaname's chest tightened, momentarily cutting off his air. That was completely unacceptable.

Unbuckling his seatbelt, Kaname moved with vampire speed. He turned and straddled Zero's seat, unfastening the hunter's buckle and quickly passing the strap around both of them instead, clicking it shut behind his back.

Zero shot him a surprised, questioning look, but Kaname pulled Zero's head to his chest, curling over him and gripping the back of the seat tightly with both hands.

"Stay down, Zero! Keep your arms in, hold onto me!" the pureblood commanded. It was his turn, he knew, to be asking for Zero's trust without explanations.

For once, Zero did as he was told, pulling his arms into the shelter of Kaname's body, his fingers gripping tightly into the front of the pureblood's dress shirt and jacket. Cocooned and half-smothered by the pureblood who was pressing him almost suffocatingly into the chair, Zero couldn't smell the rest of the plane anymore – the fear, the sorrow, the fuel and smoke... all he could smell was Kaname, he could even hear his heartbeat, pounding near his head. With the strange calm of one facing annihilation, he supposed he could think of worse ways to die.

Kaname was treated to a last glimpse of the hopeless faces of the passengers in the seats behind them. He closed his eyes and ducked his head, pressing it to the seat above Zero, below where he was holding onto the headrest with crossed hands. His fingers went long and claw-like, punching into the frame of the seat. He knew he was going to need a strong grip. Zero was warm against his body. He had to believe he could protect him too. He had to.

The plane plowed into the jungle.

There was a horrible lurch that snapped Kaname violently back against the belt binding him to the seat and to Zero. He grit his teeth in agony as the weight of his body and Zero's crushed the vertebra the strap rested against, snapping his spine. Only the strength of his grip and the way he had himself jammed against the seat kept his head from whipping back and breaking his neck too. Not that that would have killed him, but he didn't have the luxury of the time it would take to heal. His reaction speeds in the next few instants were critical or both of them were dead.

Forward momentum checked, but not stopped, the plane broke apart upon impact. The nose smashed into the ground, disintegrating the cockpit and first class section almost instantaneously. The body of the plane up-ended, the fuselage separating, tumbling as it impacted again. The world rolled and jerked sickeningly around Kaname and Zero, luggage, bodies and seats that had been torn loose flying through the air. Kaname was mentally pushing the flying debris away from them as the wreckage tumbled, but everything was moving so fast and there was too much of it for him to keep a grip on all the pieces – he couldn't keep all of it away. Something sharp sliced across Kaname's back and slammed into the back of his knees with a stabbing shock of pain. He grit his teeth harder, but his concentration didn't waver.

Barely a heartbeat after impact, the fuel tanks ignited and passengers, trees and wreckage were blasted with a super-heated explosion that blew apart what remained of the aircraft and obliterated the jungle for miles in each direction.

This was the critical moment Kaname had been waiting for. _Let this work... _

At the same moment that the flames exploded around them, he let go with a massive wave of telekinetic energy. Warping and manipulating the air around him and Zero, he sucked all the oxygen out of it and blasted the de-oxygenated air outward, combating the flames by giving them nothing to burn, starving them off in a small, protective bubble around him and the hunter.

The explosion and the impact was too massive to completely shield against. Kaname had known it would be – that's why he was on top. Unbearable heat seared his back, his shoulders, his arms... pain exploding raw through his senses and making his head swim. He screamed against Zero's hair, his fingers gripping tighter to the back of the semi-smoldering headrest as he blasted another wave of de-oxygenated air and energy outwards with all the strength he had, creating a counter-explosion that blew the rain of death and fire away from them.

Zero, trapped between Kaname and the seat, couldn't see what was happening as he was thrown around, banging against the pureblood and the urethane cushions. The horrible screeching of metal and the agonized screams of the dying filled the air, painfully deafening to already heightened hearing. To Zero, these few moments would always seem like an auditory glimpse into hell. Heat surrounded him. The hunter felt pain sear across his exposed legs, worse than anything he could have imagined. His agonized cry was muffled against Kaname's chest, mingling with the pureblood's pained voice. He felt the familiar rush of Kaname's aura balling around them as the pureblood gathered his strength. It reverberating like an aching pressure in Zero's chest as Kaname manipulated the elements his power could affect. Everything was a dark blur. There was a painful pop inside Zero's head as his eardrums shattered and then nothing but a sea of black oblivion.


	3. Through the Mouth of Hell

_A/N: Just a little warning... there's some descriptions of some pretty bad injuries /blood/gore/etc in this chapter. I was really trying not to make it too graphic or disgusting, but there are certain realities that they're dealing with right now and I didn't want to ignore that either. So... yeah, just a warning in case that kind of thing really weirds you out. Hopefully it's not too bad though. _

**Chapter Three: "Through the Mouth of Hell"**

Zero blinked his eyes open slowly. He moaned, or at least he thought he did, his throat ached like he had, but he didn't hear any sound. Everything was so completely silent it was surreal. The only reason he didn't assume he was dead was because he hurt way too much to be dead. Everything was still dark...

Zero realized that everything was dark because he was still trapped under Kaname's body. The pureblood was a soft, heavy, deadweight against him and Zero moaned again in pain as he tried to shift under him. _God... was there anything that __**didn't**__ hurt?! _

What was left of the seat was resting awkwardly, partially on its back but mostly on its side, along with the two passengers still strapped to it. At least Zero _thought_ that was the case. His sense of direction and which way was up was seriously skewed at the moment. His head was buzzing silently like a hive of bees had taken up residence and his legs felt like they were being held over a slow roaster set on high. There was curiously little oxygen in the air around them and with Kaname nearly smothering him, Zero's lungs heaved raggedly, desperately seeking air.

"Kaname... Kaname, move..." he choked, heaving weakly against the pureblood's body as he fought hazy, concussed panic at not being able to breathe. Zero couldn't hear himself speak. He couldn't hear anything. After having grown accustomed to hearing even more than normal, it felt twice as bad to suddenly be shrouded in such a heavy blanket of silence.

Zero's desperate shoves finally dislodged the pureblood's death grip where his hands had practically fused to the seat cushion... and Zero quickly forgot about his loss of hearing, and even his pain.

Kaname slumped limply sideways to the ground, sliding partially off of Zero. The pureblood's eyes were closed and he was apparently unconscious. They were still held together by the seatbelt, but Kaname flopped over the arm of the chair like a ragdoll, bending in places he shouldn't bend. The back of the pureblood's navy blue jacket was burned away... no... it wasn't just the jacket...

Zero gagged, fingers swiftly fumbling for the catch of the seatbelt behind Kaname.

The pureblood's back was burnt away. Zero could see the dull glint of white bones through the smoking char of scorched flesh and fabric. Blood oozed slowly, smelling unusually burnt and sickening.

Zero's heart pounded in his ears. The metal seatbelt buckle was smoldering hot and Zero yelped, cursing softly and shaking his burned fingers. Still cursing, he grabbed the partially melted seatbelt strap and gave it a couple harsh yanks instead. The strap was doggedly stubborn, but vampire strength prevailed and he finally completed what the crash had started, snapping it free from the seat.

Kaname rolled limply off his lap to the ground beside them and Zero, suddenly free of the pressure keeping him in the seat, followed, ending up sprawled on top of Kaname.

Zero screamed in pain. He'd momentarily forgotten about his legs, but they were reminding him now. Loudly. They felt like they'd been dipped in lava. Groaning and trying to tap some new curse words he hadn't used yet, Zero rolled awkwardly off of Kaname and pushed up on his hands so he could get a look at his legs.

He swallowed hard. Oh. CrapShitDamn. His initial assessment hadn't been far from the truth. His pants legs were partially burned away below the knee, the skin below covered in ugly second and third degree burns. They were sheer pain and he could hardly move them. Other than that, he was actually mostly in one piece. His ribs ached and stabbed when he moved, maybe broken, but possibly just cracked or badly sprained. He had a pressure concussion as well as shattered ear drums, but otherwise Kaname's body and the protective bubble the pureblood had thrown around them had shielded the ex-human from the worst of the crash.

Still cursing in ragged gasps through his teeth, but starting to run out of expletives now, Zero twisted and shifted until his burned legs were more or less straightened out in the least agonizing position possible that still allowed him to be able to reach Kaname. Dragging himself on his hands, he scooted painfully closer to the pureblood. Kaname was lying twisted, half on his side. His front seemed mostly all right, at least compared to the mess that his back was. His arms and shoulders were also burned though and his hands were blistered raw, bits of melted seat fabric and foam clinging to his curled fingers. The hair on the back of his neck was singed and curled, but his head seemed to have been mostly protected by his arms. Unlike Zero, his legs weren't very burned, due to the position he'd been in, but there were several sharp, twisted shards of shrapnel protruding from the back of his left knee and calf. More blood seeped rapidly from around the jagged tears, staining the dark leg of his suit pants.

Zero bent over Kaname, pressing his ear to the pureblood's chest, panic clawing at him for a moment as he heard no sound of heartbeat. Then the hunter remembered that he couldn't hear _anything _and quickly slid his burnt fingers to Kaname's neck, the other hand hovering under Kaname's nose. There was a very faint pulse, and equally faint breath. Almost impossibly, Kaname was still alive – barely.

Carefully, Zero rolled Kaname fully onto his stomach. The pureblood might have internal injuries, but right now, Zero was more concerned with keeping his mangled back off the churned up dirt they were sprawled upon. Kaname was in a bad way; a really bad way. Zero knew that if he were anyone other than who he was, he would be dead. Hell... if he were anyone other than he was they would _both _be dead. Zero was aware better than most that Kaname could survive a lot, could heal from unthinkable injuries but he still couldn't help the fear making him want to retch. Kaname was so badly mangled... it scared him to death. What if it was too much? What if Kaname couldn't recover?

Zero looked around automatically with the vague thought of trying to get help. He froze in shock. It was the first time he'd stopped to actually take in their surroundings.

The first thought that sprang to his mind, incongruously, was a warm, stuffy classroom, back at Cross Academy when he was still a junior. Mr. Watari, the English teacher was droning on as he read from a book. Zero didn't remember the name, but a passage came back to him now. _"...and there there was desolation. No living thing moved upon the scorched earth and the fires of ghenna smoldered like a festering sore upon the torn field of sorrow..."_

That was this place, now. Far as far as Zero could see, there was nothing but torn up earth and impossibly small bits of wreckage, blackened and smoldering. Jet fuel burned in bright, wavering patches here and there across the ruined landscape. The bent and twisted frame of seat 5F, beside them, was the only piece of wreckage large enough to be recognizable. It was the only thing Zero could see that gave any clue he hadn't just been dropped on some alien planet. It was truly shocking and disconcerting how little was left of the plane and even the jungle into which it had crashed. It felt like they had passed through the mouth of hell into some bizarre other dimension.

"Hello? Is anyone out there? Hey! Can anyone here me?!" Zero shouted at the top of the lungs. His voice echoed back hollowly across the desolation, but even Zero couldn't hear it. He was shouting into a vacuum, into a silent world. There was no one living out here except for him and Kaname.

It was like finding yourself in the middle of a bomb crater of unimaginable magnitude. The stench of charred flesh was everywhere and Zero realized with an intense jolt of nausea that mixed among the small fragments of twisted metal and melted plastic scattered about them was bits of flesh, bone and hair.

Falling back to his hands and turning away from Kaname, Zero's stomach heaved and he threw up from the pain and the sheer shock, nausea and horror. His aching ribs screamed. His arms trembled as his fingers dug into the torn earth. A few salty tears that he swore were only tears of pain escaped from his clenched eyelids.

Wiping his mouth on his sleeve, Zero slowly pulled himself together and turned back to Kaname. He brushed the back of his trembling knuckles lightly down the pureblood's still cheek as he lay on his stomach with his head turned to the side. The hunter drew in a deep, steadying breath. Okay. This situation sucked, but they were both alive, and now he needed to be concerned with keeping them that way.

Zero squinted up at the sky and shaded his eyes. The position of the sun said it was past noon, but the glowing orb was still high in the heavens and Zero felt the heat of it, uncomfortable on his exposed skin and burned legs. His gaze fell back to Kaname. He needed to get the pureblood out of the direct sunlight. In his weakened state, it would be damaging to him, compounding and complicating his already severe injuries. Some distance away, he could see where the obliteration of the crash ended and the broken tree line of the jungle resumed. It looked welcomingly shady under the thick, tangled canopy of ancient forest. But how was he to get them there?

Knowing it was going to hurt like hell, Zero carefully forced his knees to bend, groaning harshly in pain as he attempted to leverage to his feet. He couldn't make it. There was nothing to hold onto to pull himself up, and he couldn't get his legs under him enough to push up. His leg muscles refused to cooperate. Nothing below the knees was working properly. Zero pushed himself trying to use the arm of the mangled airline seat beside him for leverage. The chair shifted and he fell sideways, his knees connecting with the rough earth. Zero screamed again as he went down, curling into a fetal position on his side as pain wracked through him. He grabbed his uninjured thighs, fingers digging into the hard enough to hurt, using one pain to combat another as his burns flamed raw agony through him.

When he could breathe again without sobbing, Zero shakily pushed back up to sit. Okay... so standing wasn't going to be happening just yet. He felt frustrated and helpless. He had to get them both into the cover of the trees, but he couldn't even stand, much less carry Kaname. His weakness made him angry. 

He wished he had Kaname's powers. _God... _he wished Kaname would wake up. But at the same time he didn't, knowing the kind of pain he would be in if he did. Better if he remained unconscious until he'd had a chance to start healing. Because he _would _start healing, Zero was not going to let himself suppose anything else. There was no way in _hell _some stupid airplane crash was going to take Kaname away from him. No. He'd make sure the pureblood was cared for and protected until his body could start to compensate again. It didn't matter what he had to do. He would find a way.

Slowly, teeth grit against the pain, Zero did the only thing he could. He scooted on his backside, using his arms and his legs as much as they would support him. His fingers curled in Kaname's ruined jacket and he pulled the pureblood close, settling his burnt legs on either side of the pureblood's body. He was very glad Kaname was unconscious, actually, because he was going to have to drag him, there was nothing else he could do. Letting Kaname's head rest supported against his stomach, Zero knotted one hand firmly in the unburned front of the pureblood's shirt and jacket, His other arm extended behind him and he hauled himself back, forcing his screaming legs to function enough for his heels to dig into the earth and help push them both backward a few inches.

It was slow, hellish going, dragging himself and Kaname inch by painful inch across the torn up earth. Bits of debris and wreckage cut into Zero's palm as his hand searched blindly behind him for the next purchase, time after time. The trees weren't that far away, but it felt like it took him an eternity to reach them. His whole body was shaking from the strain, from the sun, and from the shock trying once more to settle over him by the time they finally made it to the edge of the crash site. The last stretch was the hardest, because near the edges of the blast, the torn up earth became littered with larger debris and the tangled wreck of the splintered and twisted trees were insurmountable obstacles that Zero couldn't climb over and had to just keep scooting around as best as he could manage.

In the cover of some of the larger fallen trees, he found a welcoming pool of shade thrown by the nearby trees that were still intact, the ruined debris and the angle of the sun. Settling back into it as far as he could, his back pressed up into the junction of where several fallen trees met and pulled Kaname fully into the shade. Half-sobbing through his teeth and gasping for breath in the hot, heavy air, Zero painfully eased his legs out in front of him and settled Kaname on his stomach next to him, pillowing the pureblood's head on his uninjured thighs. Cut and bleeding fingers trembling uncontrollably, Zero twined one hand reassuringly into Kaname's hair as he tipped his own head back against the rough surface of the branches behind him, trying to catch his breath and still his spinning head. Sweat was running freely into his eyes, making them sting and burn and he wiped his brow clumsily with his free hand before letting it fall back to his side. He didn't want to move for a year. Even blinking seemed like too much work.

The hunter's whole body was drenched in perspiration and his clothes were clinging to him. The denim jacket he was wearing over his t-shirt felt like it was going to cook him alive and if he wasn't so incredibly tired he would have tried to take it off.

Something tickled his face and Zero's eyes jerked open, not having realized he'd closed them. He sluggishly swatted automatically at the sensation and quickly realized it was a fly. There was more than one. Naturally prevalent and drawn by the feast of ruin now laid out before them, the carrion bugs had been flittering around Zero the whole trip over here, but he'd ignored them. They were harder to ignore now that he was still, however, and Zero swatted at them in annoyed frustration, trying to fan them away. He looked down towards Kaname and his gaze darkened. The nasty little creatures were landing all over the pureblood's injuries, drawn to the blood and damaged tissue.

Not about to put up with that, Zero scowled and summoned what little strength he had to pull a dark, chilling aura. He'd always been able to, but had refined the skill quite a bit after years of watching Kaname and sharing his blood. The flies fled in a swift, rushing cloud and Zero gave a grimace of satisfaction as he painfully struggled out of his jacket. He laid it carefully across Kaname's back, covering the worst of his injuries and giving him what protection he could offer against the insects and the elements.

Utterly spent, Zero's head lolled back against the tree again. He just needed to re-gather his strength while he tried to plan out their next steps. Obviously, people had to know that the plane had gone down. It couldn't take them _too _long to figure out where. After all, it wasn't exactly a small plane and the big gouge torn out of the jungle was a pretty good "CRASH SITE HERE" sign, right? Still, Zero knew it was a big jungle... forest... woods... whatever it was called in this part of the world, and who knew how far off course they might have gone when they crashed? They were in a semi-third world environment to boot. It could take a while to get search and rescue on the ground out here. Actually... it would probably be recovery and corner teams if anything. No one ever expected to find survivors from a crash like this.

They would this time, and Zero had no idea how they were going to explain that away, but at this point that was the least of his worries. How long it would take for someone to find them, and if they could afford to just sit here and wait for that to happen was more important. Right now, moving was out of the question, but eventually their bodies would start to heal. This heat wasn't helpful to either of them though. They were both going to need water and... at least in Zero's case... blood, before too long. He could already feel both kinds of thirst burning in him, one aggravated by the heat and his exertion, the other aggravated by his injuries and by the pervasive, overpowering smell of Kaname's blood that was covering both of them. He had no options available to quench either thirst right now, however, so Zero bit down on the need and closed his eyes.

He was so tired it was hard to think. Reason wavered and jumbled like the heat waves glimmering around them. He just had to rest for a moment... just for a...

* * *

It was dark. The air was still warm and humid, but the moonlight was cool and a faint breeze stirred the broken trees. Kaname smelt the heavy scent of death, mingled with jet fuel, ash and the piney, green scent of broken Araucaria trees and crushed foliage. His mind swam deliriously and his breath began to turn ragged as pain made itself known. So much pain... what had happened? Where was he?

Kaname didn't remember for a moment, nothing made sense and he battled down a twinge of fear. Then it all came back and a different kind of fear gripped him, deeper, more visceral, like a fist of panic clutching his chest. _Oh no... he must have passed out! _He hadn't meant to do that! He'd known he needed to stay conscious, needed to protect Zero... _Zero, where was Zero? _

Kaname tried to call Zero's name, but it came out a cracked whisper. He clumsily tried to push himself up, but moving his arms sent pain screaming through every fiber of his being and he choked in agony, forced to fall still for a moment so he wouldn't pass out again. Something slightly heavy was resting over his flaming back. His movements made it shift against him and part of it flopped down by his face. A sleeve. It was Zero's jacket.

Reason and awareness grew as Kaname fought back the blinding panic and slowly became more conscious of his surroundings. He realized that Zero's smell was in fact, all around him. There was the softly rough texture of jeans beneath his face, and warm skin beneath the fabric. He was resting on someone's lap. Zero's lap. He knew it even before he painfully craned his neck around to look up.

Zero was slumped against a splintered tree trunk, head fallen back and to the side, either sleeping or unconscious. The hunter's face was lined deeply with pain and his breathing was erratic, but he was obviously very much alive and must have somehow maneuvered them to wherever they were now.

Kaname relaxed a little. Painfully, with great effort, he brought his hand up and twined his fingers with Zero's where the hunter's hand was resting limp on the ground beside Kaname's head. He gave a soft squeeze, trying to wake the other vampire. "Zero..." he rasped, unable to get much above a whisper. "Zero!"

Zero stirred at the feeling of movement, but it wasn't until he felt the pressure on his hand that consciousness truly flooded back to him. He looked around for a moment in bleary confusion. He'd only meant to close his eyes for a moment, but the sun was down and hours had obviously passed. His ears were buzzing and ringing and he wasn't sure if that was better or worse than the dead silence of earlier. His gaze quickly shot down to Kaname, who now looked to be awake and trying to speak to him.

With effort, he could just make out the faint sound of the pureblood's voice around the mad bumblebee derby going on in his head. He fumbled to straighten up a little, squeezing Kaname's hand carefully and tilting his head so he could see him better.

"Um... slow... slow, Kaname, I can't hear so good," he said, his voice unintentionally loud to compensate for the trouble he was having hearing it. Zero's bleary face was deeply concerned. "Are you okay?" he asked worriedly, then grimaced at how stupid the question was.

Deep relief swelled through Kaname despite the pain as Zero's eyes fixed on him and he saw for sure that whatever other crap they were in, at least the both of them were still alive and relatively lucid. He winced slightly as Zero's loud voice reverberated in his throbbing head, but gave the ex-human the best attempt at a wry grin that he could manage. "I'm just fine. Thought I might go play a few sets of tennis before dinner, how about you?" he drawled dryly in response.

Zero snorted weakly after he'd taken a moment to sort out what Kaname had said. "Think I'll pass on tennis tonight..." he muttered.

Kaname grinned faintly before his expression sobered again. "Seriously, what kind of shape are you in?" he inquired softly, unable to tell from his limited line of vision. He had already run through a tentative mental check on his own injuries. "Where are we?"

"We're on the edge of the crash site, and I'm okay, mostly," Zero replied slowly. "My hearing got knocked out for a while but I think it's coming back. My legs are pretty fried, but I don't think it's so bad it won't heal eventually." The hunter leaned towards optimism for Kaname's sake, although he knew that his own regenerative powers were not so certain as the pureblood's. He would _probably _heal up all right with time, but his system was going to be pretty depressed trying to deal with the damage in the meanwhile if he couldn't get some fresh blood in him. Considering Kaname was the only available source, and considering the shape he was in, it wasn't an option.

"Um... Kaname..." he added softly after a moment, eyes falling away. "Nobody else... I mean... we're the only ones who... survived." His throat was tense and it showed in his voice.

Kaname breathed quietly against Zero's leg, feeling unaccountably guilty despite knowing it logically wasn't his fault and there was nothing more he could have done. "I know," he said softly. He'd known since before impact.

Zero suddenly curled down and buried his face in Kaname's hair, hunching over him and holding him tightly in the only place he could reach that wasn't too injured. He'd almost been one of those people, if not for Kaname. He felt guilty, but also grateful. But he was even more grateful that Kaname had survived as well. His earlier fear when he'd first seen the pureblood's injuries was still stark and real in his mind.

Kaname felt Zero's breath rasp against his cheek. He squeezed his hand quietly. He understood. He felt the same.

They stayed that way for a few minutes before Zero reluctantly, carefully eased out from under Kaname and scooted around beside him. His legs still hurt like hell, but either it wasn't quite as bad as earlier, or he was getting better at dealing with it because at least it didn't make him want to scream anymore.

"I didn't mean to fall asleep earlier," he murmured, breath coming a bit harshly from the motion and the hurt. Zero could smell fresh blood, Kaname was still bleeding somewhere and that wasn't good. He carefully lifted his jacket and Kaname tensed, going even whiter with pain and biting back a cry that turned into a harsh little sob.

Zero winced, chest tensing in a different kind of pain at the sound. "Sorry..." he murmured softly. "You're still bleeding; I need to figure out where." Kaname's back was still a mess, and it made Zero's stomach churn with nausea. But he saw that a fine, white film had covered the raw flesh almost like a natural sealant. Zero didn't know what it was, or if that was normal or not, but he hoped it meant that Kaname's body was starting to do its thing and repair itself. The burns didn't appear to be bleeding too much anymore, so Zero continued on to the twisted metal still embedded in the back of Kaname's knee and calf. He winced. Damn...

Carefully he tore the pant leg away from the injury, being as gentle as he could. Kaname started slightly at the sound of ripping fabric and looked back as if surprised. A funny expression crossed his face and he quickly let his head fall again, eyes unreadable as Zero examined the injury as carefully as he could.

"You've got some shrapnel in the back of your leg. It's probably got to come out," Zero said with concern as he assessed the damage. This was definitely where the blood was still coming from. The wound had already tried to close around the jagged pieces of metal, but when Kaname had awoken and shifted, it had sliced through the skin again and restarted the bleeding. It would stop again, but the metal needed to come out. For Kaname, leaving things in a puncture wound wasn't a good idea. His body would just keep trying to heal around it and that would be murderously painful each time it re-tore.

"So of course, you wait until I'm conscious to do it, thank you very much, Zero..." Kaname muttered with a pained roll of his eyes.

Zero looked guilty. He _had _meant to do it before and he felt miserable that he was going to now be causing Kaname more pain. "I'm sorry..." he said softly. "I didn't mean to fall asleep..."

Kaname's expression softened and he turned his head as much as he could without moving the rest of his body. "It's okay," he said quietly, a little touched by the absolute misery on Zero's face. He'd actually been mostly joking, needing the outlet to combat the pain and helplessness flaming through him. He knew Zero had done all he could, he must have gone through hell to get them to this sheltered place earlier, given the state of his legs, which Kaname could now see from this position.

"Actually... I won't feel it anyway," Kaname assured after a moment, trying to keep his voice even and neutral. "My spine's broken, Zero. I don't feel my legs at all." There was a little more helplessness to the murmured admission than the pureblood intended to show, but pain was making it hard to cover his feelings.

Zero froze, gaze shooting quickly to Kaname in horror. He remembered the utterly _wrong _way that Kaname had flopped out of the seat earlier and he felt panic in his gut again, making his eyes sting.

"Crap!" Zero swore vehemently, reaching up to stroke Kaname's cheek with his fingers. No wonder the pureblood had barely moved since he'd woken. His upper body hurt too much and his lower was paralyzed. "You'll be okay, right? I mean... it'll fix itself too, won't it? It won't... it..." _it won't stay that way, will it? Please Kaname; please tell me this isn't permanent... _Zero was sick with concern and weirdly enough that also made him feel guilty – if he was this afraid of the possibility, what must Kaname be feeling?

"No," Kaname said quickly, answering the unspoken question although his voice wasn't as sure as Zero would have liked. "No," he repeated, more firmly this time. "This is temporary. My body will heal... I just don't know how long it will take. This is going to make things very... difficult..." he said in only semi-contained frustration. He could possibly have pushed through the horrible pain in his back, but he couldn't do anything with legs that wouldn't work. He was so utterly helpless it was frightening. He _hated _being helpless. Yes, it was temporary, but right now their survival was also somewhat temporary and neither of them was in very good shape.

Zero closed his eyes in semi-relief, managing a weak smile at Kaname's words and his frustrated tone. The vampire's damn _back _was broken and Kaname was put out because it was an inconvenience. So utterly like the pureblood. Zero felt a small swell of warmth in his chest. He stroked Kaname's cheek again before returning to the pureblood's leg.

"It's okay; we'll figure this all out. We just need to hang on until the crash investigators show up," he murmured, as much for himself as for Kaname.

Kaname sighed and let his head rest back on the ground as Zero set about removing the chunks of metal imbedded in his leg. It was weird that he really felt nothing at all, even though he could hear Zero moving behind him. At the moment, he wasn't complaining. _Less _pain was a good thing. He already had almost more than he could deal with on his plate.

"Too bad the bloody thing couldn't have broken a little higher," he muttered darkly, trying to keep his mind moving to avoid focusing on how much he hurt. "Then maybe I wouldn't have to feel these damn burns either..."

Zero gave a soft yelp and swore, making Kaname jerk his head around to try and see him. That was a mistake as the pull on his shoulders shifted the fire in his back up a few more notches beyond unbearable.

"What are you _doing_ back there?" Kaname demanded, tone a little peevish because he was trying not to throw up from the pain he'd just caused himself.

"Wouldn't you like to know...?" Zero muttered, annoyed voice vaguely attempting to be suggestive as he sucked his bleeding fingers, torn from the sharp edges of the twisted metal he was trying to remove.

Kaname smirked, the slight distraction from his agony welcome, which had been more or less Zero's intention. "Don't try to be cute, just get it out already." But his pained voice was ever so mildly amused.

"Yeah, easy for you to say. Damn thing's sharp, and stuck in the bone. I'm working on it, just relax, will you?" Zero returned in a slightly irritated but mostly distracted tone.

It took a while, but Zero eventually managed to pry the metal out of the wound without slicing his fingers off in the process. It was getting cold now and he shivered. It was hard to keep his hands steady, which wasn't helping, but he forced himself to ignore the growing chill as he worked.

Zero was worried... he wasn't sure he'd gotten all of it out. He bit back on his own nauseous distaste and probed inside the wound with his finger to check. Wasn't like Kaname could feel him and it wasn't like the pureblood had to worry about infection either. Sure enough, a sharp nub of metal still protruded from the bone inside the wound, but there was nothing Zero could do to remove it. He didn't have any of the necessary equipment. It was too small, too slippery with blood and too deeply embedded in the bone for him to be able to grasp it with his fingers.

Crap... Kaname was probably going to have to have surgery to have it removed when they got home, if his body couldn't just expel it on its own, that was. Zero supposed that was possible. Anyway, there was nothing else he could do about it for the moment. Tearing what remained of Kaname's ruined pant leg off below the knee, Zero shredded the fabric into strips and carefully bound the gashes to knee and calf. They had already stopped bleeding though for the most part, and Zero was glad to see that Kaname's body seemed to be starting to recover itself to a certain degree.

Zero's shivers were starting to become painful now. Damn, it was cold. It was weird, considering how hot he'd been earlier, but now he was freezing, the lingering perspiration clinging to his skin and his soaked t-shirt feeling like ice. He rubbed his arms and glanced towards his jacket, but he should probably put that back over Kaname. He would need the protection from the cold more.

Kaname had drifted in and out of consciousness as Zero tended his leg. But the feeling of Zero's jacket easing over his raw back again dragged him blearily back to semi-awareness. "Zero..." he moaned softly in protest, not liking the weight on his injuries.

"Shh... S'okay," Zero assured, voice slurring slightly. "R-rest. I know it hurts, but i's ccold, gotta coverr you up."

Alarm pinged through Kaname's hazy senses and he struggled for more lucidity, although it was slippery and elusive. "Zero, it's not cold," he murmured in deep concern.

There was no response and Kaname struggled to twist a little, to hell with the pain. "Zero!" he tried to get the boy's attention. Zero seemed to have phased out and shook himself as his eyes slowly met Kaname. The ex-human was still hugging himself tightly, looking strangely blank and lost.

Kaname would have given anything to be able to sit up and hold him close and frustration surged through his feverish mind. "Zero, you're going into shock," the pureblood said in miserable concern. "Lay down. Here, by me... under the jacket, we can share body heat," Kaname coaxed, cursing himself for not being able to get up, for making Zero have to worry about tending _him _when the hunter was obviously so much in need of care himself.

Zero was having trouble following a train of thought, but _warm _sounded very good and he willingly settled down beside Kaname, careful of the pureblood's injuries as he snuggled under the jacket with him. Gritting his teeth until his eyes watered and his breath hitched tremulously in his chest, Kaname slowly shifted his arm around Zero's shoulders, holding him close and trying to share as much with him as he could. Zero curled into Kaname's warmth, tucking his head under the pureblood's chin. Kaname turned his head a little so his cheek rested atop Zero's hair.

Slowly Kaname was able to stop feeling like he was going to either sob or throw up from the pain of having moved like that, and slowly Zero's shivers eased. Kaname could feel Zero's body relax against him as consciousness slid away from him, and he wanted to stand guard, wanted to protect Zero while he rested, as useless as he was in his current condition, but the pureblood's own lucidity was already wavering again and welcome darkness was pulling him down.

Curled together, deeply unconscious as their broken bodies tried to mend, neither of the still vampires heard the sharp, staccato bursts of gunfire in the distance, or saw the orange glow of several small explosions that briefly flared on the tree clad horizon.


	4. All Through the Night

_A/N: Named this chapter after a bedtime song my mom used to sing us. Can't remember many of the words all these years later, but the tune came to mind when I was writing parts of this, and the feeling of it seemed to fit. _

**Chapter Four: "All Through the Night"**

Kaname didn't know how long he was out; his internal body clock was completely messed up. But eventually unconsciousness lightened and he drifted in and out of delirium for what felt like a long time, catching only moments and snapshots of reality around the fevered creations of his traumatized mind.

Broken trees rustling in the faint breeze. Birds calling to each other. Insects humming. Zero beside him, shivering and mumbling incoherently.

The pureblood was barely lucid himself but he held Zero close as much as he could, fingers tangled reassuringly in the matted silver hair. Despite his shivers, Zero was hot to the touch. Fever. Un-cleaned and untreated, his burns were probably becoming infected and the severe overall shock to his system that he'd suffered wasn't helping. Kaname wanted desperately to do something, but he could barely move and consciousness was fickle, slipping in and out without his consent. It was like a dream where you know there's something you really need to do, but un-reality continually intrudes to keep you from ever quite reaching your goal.

Kaname came aware again at the sound of Zero's raw voice whimpering feverish words he couldn't make out. The pureblood hadn't realized he'd lapsed again and struggled with a flash of dark, sluggish rage at himself. Zero needed him and he couldn't even stay conscious... it was unforgivable.

Zero was tense, anguished in his delirium. His eyes were closed. His face was turned towards Kaname. It was flushed with fever and lined with pain and agitation. He was murmuring something that sounded like _"don't leave me", _pleading with someone unseen. Kaname didn't know what Zero was reliving or to whom he was speaking. His parents, maybe – now dead and gone for many years? His twin brother, who had betrayed them all? Yuki?

Kaname carefully tilted his head until his forehead touched Zero's. Zero was radiating heat, but Kaname registered only vaguely that he was also. "Shh..." he mumbled softly, his voice a cracked husk of its usual self. "S'okay, Zero... we're gonna be okay..." He hoped that was true.

Kaname's voice seemed to penetrate Zero's delirium because his agitated motions stilled, although the anguish on his face pulled deeper. "Kaname..." he murmured faintly. "Don't go..."

Kaname's already labored breath caught softly. It was _him_? It was him, Zero's unconscious mind was so afraid of losing? It made sense really, given the situation they were currently in, but it touched Kaname deeply nonetheless. His resolve hardened. They _would _make it out of this. Both of them. No matter what, they would survive. Kaname's fingers brushed tenderly through Zero's hair. The burns on his fingers had already faded to insignificance, as had the worst of the burns on his arms and shoulders. His more grievously injured back was healing slower though, if the agony still radiating from it was any indication.

"I'm not going anywhere, Zero," he rasped softly. "I'm going to be right here with you. Shh...rest now... give yourself time to heal." Kaname's throat was painfully dry and his voice was roughened from the harsh thirst wracking him, but Zero seemed to relax at the familiar sound of it, unconsciously curling closer to the pureblood. As soon as Kaname fell silent though, he started to mutter and toss again.

Zero's hair clung to his face, but his perspiration had dried on his skin under the heat radiating from his body. Some part of Kaname knew that was a bad sign. Zero trembled, even when he was still, shivering softly and unconsciously as his body kept raising his internal thermostat in an effort to fight the infection flooding his weakened system. His breathing was labored and irregular.

Kaname winced sharply as Zero's delirious thrashing tugged on his injuries and he had to clench his eyes shut against the pain. "Hey... hey... It's okay, I'm still here, relax, Zero..." he soothed quietly until the hunter calmed again. Kaname was frightened and the way that was making his heart speed up was doing nothing for his effort to stay conscious.

His head spun dizzily. He just wanted to fall back into the numbing delirium clutching at the corners of his consciousness, to not hurt for a while, he was so tired, so thirsty... but he was too afraid to give in. Too afraid that next time he woke Zero might be deathly still beside him and that he might no longer be able to hear the soft, labored sounds of his breath and his heartbeat.

How much could an ex-human's body take? Kaname didn't know... Zero was strong, he'd always been strong, but... Gritting his teeth to muffle his cry of sheer agony, Kaname tried to push himself up on his arms. But the effort was too much. His legs were still non-responsive and too much of his back muscle had yet to re-grow to allow him more than cursory use of his arms. He couldn't even make it off the ground, and the agony of the effort sent him tumbling back into darkness.

Locked in a delusional reality, Zero fought with his nightmares. The plane crash, over and over again... waking up and finding Kaname injured, broken... but in the twisted version of his dreamscape, the pureblood didn't survive. Zero was alone, trying to drag him across an unending hell of fire, but Kaname crumbled to dust in his hands and agony tore through him, like a poker ripping open his chest.

Kaname's voice seemed to come from far away, and it was reassuring. It tugged at his mind as if trying to remind him that there was another reality beyond the one he was trapped in. This wasn't real... was it? No... it couldn't be... he could hear Kaname's voice. He could _hear _it. The words were soft and illusive, he only barely registered them, but the voice... he knew it so well and he reached for it, curling into the comfort of the sound.

It wasn't real... it wasn't real... he was dreaming... he would wake up soon and find himself in the big bed at Kaname's penthouse, and the pureblood would tease him about keeping him up with his nightmares... yes... please, let this be a dream... but part of him knew it wasn't a normal dream. The crash was real. Was the rest of it real? Was Kaname dead? Had he failed him after the pureblood had saved his life? No! No... but he wasn't sure.

A soft cry... Kaname's voice? Panic welled again. He called out for the pureblood, reaching for him in the twisted and broken landscape of his delirious hallucinations, but there was no answer. He couldn't hear Kaname anymore, the voice was gone and he was all alone.

Oh God... maybe this _was_ reality... Kaname was dead and Zero had no fight left in him to combat the raging infection assaulting his body. In his dreams, he fell to his knees and wept, curling on the ground as reality and nightmare blended sickeningly and he was again surrounded by the horrible cries of the dying and the heat of the burning plane... it was so hot, it seared him, burning his body up slowly from the inside out... but Kaname was gone, so it didn't matter. He wanted to hold on for Yuki, he knew she would be devastated to lose them both, but that just brought to him the fact that he'd have to tell her... he'd have to look her in the eyes and tell her he'd failed and Kaname was gone. He couldn't... he couldn't do it...

Zero's fever soared as the infection ravaged him harshly.

A soft sound, like the sobbing of an injured kitten, tugged at Kaname's awareness as he floated slowly back towards consciousness. For a moment he didn't understand what the sound was, then he realized he'd passed out again and fear zinged harshly through his gut, jerking him back to semi-lucidity as he forced his eyes open, looking for Zero. Zero was still curled against him, under his arm. Still fevered, still shaking, although his body seemed to be wearing out and his soft, thrashing agitation was getting more labored and sluggish.

Zero was crying, softly. That was the sound he'd heard. At least, he was trying to cry. His body didn't seem to have enough moisture to be making the tears, but the way his breath was hitching was obvious.

The panic hazing Kaname's thoughts eased slightly at the obvious proof that Zero was still with him, although his heart clenched in a whole new kind of pain.

"Zero... please... it's okay... please don't cry..." Kaname murmured with effort, doing his best to pull the hunter as close as their injuries allowed.

Zero's body stiffened, then hesitantly, almost warily relaxed a little.

The voice was back. He heard it. Kaname? Was it just his imagination, because he wanted to hear it so badly? Or was this dark hell he was trapped in the illusion rather than the reality? Zero still didn't know, but the lulling comfort of the voice was compelling and he relaxed into it. Maybe it was still worth the fight... to find out what was reality and what wasn't. Maybe he shouldn't let go completely just yet.

Kaname saw the clearly that although Zero still appeared delirious and his eyes never opened, the ex-human responded to his words, or maybe just his voice. Kaname licked his lips and forced a swallow down his dry throat. If all he was capable of doing was trying to give Zero something to hold onto, then he would talk until his damn voice gave out. Mumbling a soft, slurring litany of whatever passed through his head, Kaname tried to keep up a steady flow of sound. It appeared to be having the desired effect, too, because Zero's thrashing had ceased and he lay still, save for the trembling, under Kaname's arm.

Kaname talked of everything and nothing. Of his latest business deals, of his favorite books, of times he and Zero had shared, of Yuki, of his childhood, before his parents died, and after. His bleary, half-lucid mind confessed things he'd never confided to anyone else, but felt safe saying to the delirious hunter, who probably wouldn't remember any of this anyway.

Consciousness flickered and wavered, and sometimes Kaname knew he'd been muttering absolute nonsense as his voice started to slur to a halt and he almost drifted off. But Zero would start to stir once more and Kaname would jerk himself back awake and begin again. Time had lost meaning. It felt like hours dragged by, which might or might not have been true. Kaname was losing ground. His body needed to shut down and try to heal, but he was trying desperately to fight it so he could stay conscious for Zero. He was going hoarse, his voice fading, dry, cracked lips sluggishly refusing to move. He was losing the ability to produce sounds and words and his mind was fogging over back towards his own delirium.

Unable to speak anymore, Kaname let his lips close and hummed softly instead. No real melody, he couldn't hold a thought long enough to remember one, but he hummed tunelessly as he held Zero, trying to offer comfort through the sound as the long night faded slowly towards dawn.

* * *

Yuki glanced at the silent phone before sitting down on the couch and flicking on the television. Tucking her feet up, she balanced her cup of yogurt on one knee as she channel surfed with the remote in the other hand. Zero and Kaname should have arrived in Brazil by now she figured, but neither of them had called when they arrived as she'd asked them to do. That wasn't too unusual, however. They had probably hit the ground running with a hundred things to do and simply forgotten. Usually Zero at least was pretty good about remembering to give her a ring, but she wasn't worried. She'd probably get a sheepish call at some ungodly hour of the morning from one of them, who had either forgotten to account for the time difference, or misjudged her sleep schedule as opposed to theirs. That had happened before and she smiled wryly at the memory as she spooned up a bite of her snack. She was going out for dinner soon, but after the long day of final exams she needed a quick little energy boost.

Actually, soon as she was done she should get changed. Aido and Kain were coming over to pick her up for a celebratory meal commemorating her last day of exams. It would be a late dinner for her and an early breakfast for them. Yuki was starting to think that now that she was all but done with school, she might want to seriously consider adopting a nocturnal schedule, since it seemed that so many of her friends were vampires. Her ultimate goal was to return to Cross Academy as a teacher, now that she had her degree, but she supposed she'd be teaching Day Class for a while, considering how advanced the Night Class students always were. So then again maybe she'd better keep her schedule the way it was.

Still vaguely musing on the topic, she settled on an international news channel and set the remote aside so she could hold her yogurt cup in one hand and eat with the other. Kaname had once encouraged her to watch more than local news in order to get a broader picture of world events, but in truth she did it because the two most important people to her in the world were usually out there somewhere and she liked to know what was happening.

She wasn't paying much attention now, though, mostly lost in her own thoughts until she heard mention of the word _Brazil_ which caught her attention, given where her thoughts were currently wandering. Apparently an airplane had gone down somewhere in the Brazilian jungle. There had been a brief mayday and then contact was lost. The plane had not arrived on time so it was assumed lost and the incident was being looked into. Yuki felt a small, funny drop in the pit of her stomach as she listened to the brief report. It made no mention of the airline, the flight number, or even if it had been a domestic or international flight. There was no reason to start assuming the worst and Yuki told herself that firmly as she quickly set aside her yogurt and reached for the phone.

Kaname's cell phone went immediately to voicemail. She left him a message with a somewhat strained cheerfulness, asking him to please give her a call as soon as he got the message. Zero's phone rang and rang and then said that that subscriber could not be found, please try again later.

It was entirely possible that he was having reception issues, even though they both had international phone coverage packages. But Yuki couldn't stem the rising worry inside her. Still... she was sure she was getting worked up over nothing. Stuff like this had happened before and it had turned out to be nothing. She'd gotten all panicked once when she heard about a car bombing taking out a whole market in an area where she'd known Zero was working. She hadn't been able to reach him and had made the mistake of telling Kaname, who had promptly flown out there himself, which had made Zero _very _ticked with her when it turned out that he was fine, and had simply been under deep cover at the time.

Yuki told herself firmly that she was not going to overreact this time. They were _fine_ and they would call her soon.

Yuki kept the news channel on though, hoping to hear more information about the crash. They were talking about some peace summit in another country though and were frustratingly not obliging.

No longer feeling remotely hungry, Yuki put her half-eaten yogurt back in the kitchen and went to where she had her laptop set up on the kitchen table, flipping open the lid and turning it on. Maybe she could find out more information this way. She did a search on "plane crash" and "brazil" and came up with a lot of useless historical data and one or two related articles that said they'd been added within the past few hours.

One was a brief summary that was no more helpful than the news blip had been, and she wondered if they really didn't know any more than they said yet, or if they were being intentionally vague because they were waiting for the airlines to try to contact the relatives of the people who had been on the plane in person so they wouldn't have to hear it on the news first. Peachy. But it wasn't helping her need to reassure herself that the crash had nothing to do with her inability to reach Kaname and Zero. She clicked the next link.

This one had a few more details, including the fact that it had been an international flight, the airline, flight number, the plane's destination, and its country of origin. Yuki froze, a cold, hard, horrible chill sweeping through her. Oh God... how many international flights from here to Brazil were there every day? Could it possibly be a horrible, horrible coincidence? She didn't know what Kaname and Zero's flight number had been, she hadn't asked... why hadn't she asked?!

In a state of shock, Yuki scrolled down to see a small, blurry picture that a helicopter pilot on a delivery run had apparently snapped on his phone not long after the crash. He hadn't known what it was at the time, thinking that there was a forest fire or something and sending it to the local news station where it was all but ignored until word of the crash came through and people realized what it was.

The photo was pixilated, indistinct and taken from quite a distance, but you could see a distant gash carved in the greens and browns of the jungle, heavy black smoke and smoldering fires further obscured the already bad picture. There were no visible signs of a plane, or anything man-made, so it was no wonder the pilot had thought it was a fire.

Yuki's stomach churned. She'd seen airplane crash pictures before and been struck by the absolute nothingness that they left behind.

No. This was not possible!

Yuki's made a conscious effort to keep her hands from shaking as she got up and hurried back towards the phone. As she did, she heard several loud, cheery blasts from a car horn outside. Aido and Kain had obviously arrived and were waiting for her in the car. Normally she would have been embarrassed at them acting like that in front of her neighbors and all, but right now she barely even registered them a thought.

Dialing the phone, she called Kaname's office. They would know, right? They would know what flight he had been on, they could set this all to rest for her...

She had Kaname's direct office number, so his personal secretary answered. Marci was a no-nonsense vampire whom Yuki had spoken with many times before. They'd never met, and had only spoken when Yuki was calling for Kaname or when Kaname asked Marci to call Yuki and relay something for him, but Yuki still found a small sense of comfort in hearing the other woman's familiar, polished tones on the other end of the line.

"Kuran-sama's office, how may I help you?"

"Marci, this is Yuki..."

"Kuran-sama is not in, Miss Cross," Marci cut Yuki off with a distracted tone that was unlike her usual business-like cordiality. Yuki got the feeling she probably had other people on hold or something and battled down a flare of irritation.

"I know, he and Zero were going to Brazil, I just want to know what flight they were on. I saw this thing on the news and-"

"I'll call you back, Miss Cross," Marci cut her off again, voice strained and tense beneath the professional veneer and then the line clicked off.

Yuki gripped the phone in shock, listening to the dial tone and not liking the strange, sinking feeling clawing at her stomach. Marci was never that rude with her, if only because she was aware that she was Kaname's girlfriend. Frowning, Yuki punched redial with a trembling finger. Fear was settling in for real. Marci hadn't _sounded_ rude... she'd sounded upset... harried...

The phone rang and rang, multiple times like it did when call waiting was enabled and it was trying to get the attention of someone who was already on the phone. Failing that, it clicked over to voicemail. The sound of Kaname's smooth, professional recorded greeting stabbed a tense ache through her chest. Yuki scowled as she jammed the button down to disconnect again. She forced herself to wait, counting to ten, then counting to ten again before punching in the code that would disable caller ID for the call, making her show up as an unlisted number. Marci couldn't ignore her if she didn't know who was calling.

The polite voice answered again and Yuki cut her off before she could finish her 'hello' spiel. "Marci, were Kaname and Zero on that plane that went down in Brazil?" she demanded without preamble. Somehow... Yuki knew that the secretary knew the truth. The question was, did _she_ want to know?

There was a long, dead, nerve shredding silence on the other end of the line. Yuki could hear other voices talking in the background. She couldn't hear what they were saying, but their tones were tense. 

Marci apparently was not alone. "Miss Cross..." Marci's voice was slower when she finally spoke, resigned now and trying to be gentle.

Yuki was having none of it. "Were they on the damn plane?!" she fairly shouted into the receiver. Her hands _were _trembling now. Her eyes stung and her throat was closing off as tears threatened. _God, please no... please no... _was running desperately through her mind, yet even so... some part of her already knew.

"Yes, Miss Cross," Marci's voice was a pained whisper, the professionalism momentarily drained out of it under the defeated admission. "They were on that plane."

Yuki's legs couldn't support her, she couldn't breathe. She crashed hard to the floor on her knees, shoulders shaking as tears flowed down her cheeks. She curled forward, unconsciously still clutching the phone to her ear as a quiet but gut-shattering sob tore through her. "No. No..." she whispered, barely audible, although her mind was screaming the word over and over.

No. They couldn't be gone. She couldn't have lost both Zero and Kaname in one single instant of time like that... it wasn't right, it wasn't fair! They were too strong, too smart for that... but all of that meant nothing in the face of something as horribly stupid and random as an airplane crash. Yuki'd seen the grainy picture on the web. She'd seen other pictures like it from other crashes. There was no plane, there was nothing left. No one could have survived that...

Yuki didn't hear the door open, didn't hear the quick but quiet footsteps. Strong hands wrapped around her shoulders from behind, gently uncurling her from where she was hunched brokenly over her knees. Aido and Kain must have gotten tired of waiting for her out front, come up and let themselves in. Right now she didn't care, she surrendered to the warm support of those hands as she felt her world shattering around her in irreclaimable pieces.

"Yuki..." Kain's voice was soft, comforting as he pulled her back against him, even though she could hear the hint of raw fear at the edges. He must have heard her loud questions to Marci on his way up the stairs, must have realized the implications of what she'd said. He was afraid of the answer, afraid of what her absolute heartbreak and distress meant.

Yuki numbly realized that Marci was still speaking and tried to get her mind to untangle the words. "O-okay..." she rasped, barely able to speak. "Thank you. Yes, please keep me informed." Yuki dropped the phone clattering to the floor and Aido picked it up, hanging it up and looking at Yuki worriedly as she rested limply in his cousin's arms. He crouched down in front of them, hesitantly touching her soft brown hair and looking questioningly to Kain for answers that neither of them had, but both of them feared.

"Yuki? Is Kaname... all right?" Aido asked softly, unable to keep the sick urgency out of his tone.

Yuki was sobbing in earnest now and she shook her head mutely. "H-he and Zero w-were... on a plane... it crashed," she finally gulped out, almost crying too hard to speak.

Kain and Aido exchanged completely stricken and horrified expressions. Kain looked numb and Aido looked angry, although not at anything in particular. His blue eyes stung, unexpectedly filling with moisture and he quickly rubbed at them roughly, trying to process the shock of what Yuki had just said.

"Are you sure?" he demanded and Yuki shot him a tearstained glare.

"Yes, I'm sure!" she was trying to be angry instead of heartbroken, but it didn't work and she closed her eyes, feeling sick, feeling lost... "I just talked with Kaname's s-secretary Marci," she whispered miserably. "She said they were. They're sending people down to Brazil right away to look into the crash..." her tone was lost and utterly hopeless. Why couldn't she just die, right now? There wasn't anything to live for. "I can't believe they're gone..." she whispered hollowly.

Aido bit his lip and hesitantly, almost awkwardly touched Yuki's hair again. "Yuki, that may not be the case..." he said softly.

"Aido..." Kain eyed his cousin, if questioning the wisdom of getting Yuki's hopes up, but as he felt the sobs still shaking through the slim body he was holding he decided Aido was right. Hope was essential, for all of them, now. He gave a small nod and sighed.

Yuki's head came up, her gaze fixing on Aido. The hesitant, anguished desire to find some reason for hope even though she logically knew she should have none was written clear in her swimming brown eyes.

Aido swallowed, running his hand through his hair. He was _not _going to cry, he was _not _going to cry...

"Vampires can often walk away from situations that would kill humans. You know how sometimes you'll see a car wreck that no one should have survived, yet there's the driver standing next to the car talking to the police? They always say they were 'thrown clear of the car' but that's just the cover. They're vampires, and that's why. Kaname is a _very_ _powerful_ vampire. You know what his regenerative powers are like. Purebloods have survived being practically cut to pieces, trapped in ice for years, burned alive or..."

Kain shot Aido a look that said he didn't need to get that descriptive with her and Aido scaled back on the details.

"What I'm saying is that despite how bad a crash can be, Kaname still might have survived..." Aido suddenly became conscious of Yuki's now painfully hopeful, yet stricken look and swallowed, realizing what he'd just said and who he'd left out. "Um... Zero too..." he lied as best he could. There was no way in hell the ex-human could have survived such a crash, but looking at Yuki's anguished expression, there was also no way in hell he could tell her that.

Deep down, Yuki knew Aido was lying for her sake. She knew that he had clearly meant Kaname might have survived only because he was a pureblood, an advantage that Zero did not have. But she tried desperately not to think about that, preferring to believe the kind lie for now, to allow a small thread of hope to hold her up so she did not fall into the utter despair that waited for her if it was cut. After all, Zero was strong too... and he'd been sharing blood with Kaname for so long now...

"How soon can we get down there?" she rasped quietly, but with a new determination settling across her features as she shakily pushed to her feet, disentangling from Kain's warm arms. She wiped her eyes on the heels of her palms, even though it did little good as tears continued to escape slowly from her reddened eyes. "I can get money... Kaname has my name on a couple of his bank accounts. I can get us tickets or a jet or whatever we need... you'll come with me, won't you?" she fixed an earnest, pleading, fierce look upon the two vampires.

Kain rose to his feet, he and Aido exchanging glances once more. "Yuki..." Kain shook his head. "Of course we're going, we would anyway. But you don't have to. Look, from what Marci told you, I'm sure Kuran Corp is already launching a full scale search and rescue op on the vaguest chance that he – they might still be alive. They'll let us tag along. But you should stay here. There's nothing you can do there. You've got a lot going on here, I mean, you're graduating this weekend..."

"To hell with all that!" Yuki snapped, surprising both cousins with her vehemence. "You think I can sit here and _wait_? Go through the motions of some asinine graduation ceremony when Kaname and Zero might be out there somewhere, hurt or who knows what else? No way." There was steely resolve in her brown eyes and Kain decided that she had grown up a lot since from the girl he remembered from a few years ago.

"Better just let her do what she wants, Kain," Aido said with a faint, wry smile despite the circumstances. "If Miss Disciplinary Committee has her mind set, I doubt we'll be able to talk her out of it."

Yuki gave a small, choked half-laugh that was part sob at the old nickname. "Damn right," she replied, wiping her eyes again with a little more success this time and casting both cousins a determined look that wasn't quite a smile, but was as near as she could manage right now. She crossed the room to her bedroom area, tugging open a drawer and starting to toss things onto her bed.

"Just one thing..." Aido called after her, his expression turning wry. "Stop swearing, would you? It's too weird coming from you and it's creeping me out."

* * *

As the night faded, Kaname knew he was fading too. His own injuries were claiming him and he wasn't going to be able to fight much longer before unconciousness reclaimed him. Zero was still beside him, his fever-racked body too exhausted to thrash anymore, and calmed by the constant reassurance of Kaname's presence that kept him tied to reality, be it by ever so slim a thread.

The ex-human's eyes fluttered open, dull grey rimmed with the dark red that showed his hunger. For a moment Kaname felt a faint tug of hope, but Zero's gaze was glassy, unfocused and Kaname couldn't get the hunter to look his direction or respond to him. Kaname realized that Zero was still out of it, trapped in hallucinations that the pureblood could not see, nor penetrate.

Zero gave a faint groan, his hand fluttering weakly to his chest. It was different than the way he'd been thrashing before, and Kaname understood. The red in Zero's eyes and the extended fangs behind his cracked lips told the story clearly. The hunter's blood thirst was becoming too much for him. Kaname knew his own eyes mirrored the same red, his fangs partially extended and pressing against his dry tongue. But he was hungry only because his body craved blood to mend itself, Zero needed blood for his survival.

A decision needed to be made, and it wasn't a very hard choice. Both of them were in danger while they remained so mutually helpless. Kaname was severely injured. He would heal, but without intervention it would take time, maybe days before he was able to move on his own again. Days that they didn't have... that Zero, didn't have.

Zero was not so severely injured, but his body was less able to cope with the damage and the resulting infection than Kaname's was. If he had blood, though... it would give his immune system the jump it needed on the infection to bring it under control so he could start healing.

Kaname licked his dry lips painfully. He was worried about Zero, still more scared for his life than he wanted to admit, but what the pureblood was contemplating now was a rational, as well as an emotional choice. Even at a time like this, Kaname was quite capable of stepping back and seeing the bigger picture. They were far too vulnerable like this. One of them needed to be able to be mobile or they were both screwed. Zero was the best choice because his injuries were slighter and Kaname stood a much better chance of surviving an additional blood drain than Zero did. As long as Zero didn't drain him completely, he would be all right, even if it was possible he might end up in a coma for a while. Kaname trusted Zero - both to not kill him, and to take care of him afterwards. So, as he'd thought before, the choice wasn't really that hard.

The question was whether Zero was aware enough to understand. Kaname wasn't sure about that, but he was pretty sure that as long as Zero was conscious, which he now appeared to be, even if he was still delusional, then at some point, instinct would take over. Maybe he should have been a little more concerned about Zero's control, given his obvious state, but Kaname was too out of it himself to worry about that. He'd been vulnerable to Zero before, and the hunter had always stopped short of doing him permanent harm. He was running partially on instinct, and his instincts told him he was safe putting his life in Zero's hands.

"Zero... Zero, I need you to listen to me," Kaname whispered hoarsely, voice cracking from overuse, hand resting on Zero's cheek in an effort to get the glassy-eyed vampire to look at him. He needed the hunter to hear him and hoped that Zero would somehow remember this later. Especially if something went wrong, he didn't want Zero thinking he'd done this without Kaname's permission. "I want you to drink some of my blood now, all right? One of us has to be well enough to move around, and with my back injury... it's not going to be me, not for too long a time." Kaname smiled faintly, ruefully as he tenderly brushed Zero's cheek with his thumb. "Don't make me regret this, huh?" he murmured.

Carefully, Kaname placed the inside of his wrist against Zero's mouth, wincing at the movement but rubbing it lightly back and forth against his lips to stimulate a response. No way could Kaname have stood having anyone drink from his neck right now.

Zero's unfocused, fever-bright eyes blinked a couple times as he became vaguely aware of the warm skin against his mouth, his instincts immediately sensing the throb of the blood pulsing close beneath the surface. _Blood... _

In his halucinatory waking dreams, Zero was safe at home with Kaname, the pureblood's soothing monologue having kept him from despair during the long night and kept him in the fight. Kaname had actually been almost singing to him, and it was a warm, sweet feeling in the middle of his muddled delusions and pain. The warm voice whispered something to him again. Zero heard the words, but they didn't really register.

_Yes, Kaname... whatever, just let me sleep, it hurts so much I need to escape... _

But then there was soft flesh at his mouth... blood... he was so thirsty... he didn't know why he was so thirsty, but Kaname always let him drink when he needed it. Like now... His hunger took over automatically, as Kaname had known it would and Zero's teeth slipped almost gently into Kaname's wrist. Zero wasn't lucid enough to remember how badly injured his lover was. All he knew was that there was blood there, being offered to him, and he needed it, badly.

Kaname smiled faintly at the little swirl of pleasure that spread up his arm, following the initial sting of the penetration. He liked giving his blood to Zero. Even at a moment like this, it felt good. The endorphins it released into Kaname's system were not unwelcome either, offering a slight numbing of his pain even as swirling dizziness engulfed him.

With his lifeblood flowing slowly into Zero, he could release some of the fear he had for the other's safety as his vision grayed, filling with yellow splotches before tunneling towards darkness. His eyes slid shut. He was very weak, but he wasn't afraid. He trusted Zero. He was just so... tired...

Reality fled and Kaname knew no more.


	5. I Will be There

**Chapter Five: "I Will be There"**

Zero's numb fingers curled around Kaname's arm, holding it as he drank slowly, his throat too raw to go fast, despite the burning need tightening his chest. Kaname's blood flowed into him, soothing and delicious and the pain slowly ceded. He still wasn't coherent, but the horrible hotness blanketing him seemed to ease as well as the regenerative power being imparted to him bolstered his system, sending it to work swiftly on the infection and the damage to his legs. It was none too soon, catching him before the hunter's internal organs edged into danger of failing from the strain being placed upon them.

In the dream world, Zero was curled beside his lover in a very different place, far from the jungle and this field of death. He kissed the pale skin lightly as he drank. The motion and the taste were all so very familiar. Yes... it really was okay... Kaname was all right, he could _taste_ him, it had all been a bad dream.

Yet as the life-giving blood flowed into him, a small measure of lucidity also began to return. Zero's head felt foggy, his body trying to shut him down so it could focus on mending, but he was vaguely aware of something not right with the pureblood beside him. Kaname was completely still, not telling him to stop, but somehow he felt he _should_ stop, even if he still craved so much more. Kaname sometimes got lost in the pleasure of blood sharing and let him take too much. He couldn't have the pureblood too dizzy to go to work tomorrow...

Zero eased his fangs out of Kaname's skin, kissing the pale wrist and licking the puncture wounds tenderly even as he felt himself slipping away towards a deep, healing sleep.

* * *

Yuki fidgeted in her seat as she looked across the massive internal cabin of the C-17 Globemaster class transport idling on the private runway. She'd never been on a plane quite like this. It was a modified military troop transport fit for moving armed forces and equipment around the world at jet speeds. That was rather what it looked like it was doing now. A search and extraction team suited up in black ops style gear was seated along one wall of the cabin, a team of doctors and medical staff on the other side, while the center cargo area was filled with secured equipment, including several all-terrain vehicles and various medical supplies.

Yuki knew that although it was unspoken, everyone was assuming that if by some miracle, Kaname _had _survived the crash, he was very probably going to need serious medical attention. _Kaname AND Zero... _Yuki reminded herself stubbornly, unconsciously worrying a snagged fingernail between her teeth in agitation. She insisted on fooling herself that this search was for both of them. Aido and Kain were kind enough to help her keep that illusion and she held onto it tightly.

The two vampire cousins were seated on either side of her, and although Yuki would have once felt deeply uncomfortable at being loosely sandwiched between Idol and Wild... she actually found it rather comforting at the moment. It was funny how much some things could change.

"Yuki... it's a crime to ruin your pretty hands that way..." Aido leaned down and spoke close to her ear in the half annoyed, half-sultry tone that he did so well as he pulled her hand away from her mouth. "You should leave biting to the experts..."

Yuki scowled and jabbed her elbow in his ribs. Okay, so some things didn't change all that much.

The transport plane was equipped to handle over a hundred soldiers, but the actual teams it was transporting now were significantly smaller in number, the gear taking up most of the remaining space. Also, space had been reduced because the front area of the cargo hold had been converted into a kind of VIP area complete with spacious leather seats and a carefully secured mini-bar. Yuki was fairly certain this was _not_ standard equipment, and would have smirked if she wasn't so worried. Vampires... never let it be said that purebloods and nobles didn't like to do _everything _in style.

Everything was loaded but the rear hatch was still open and the silver-blonde Ops leader was standing by her team, fingers pressed to the small radio headset on her ear to indicate that she was in communication with someone. Seiren's expression was stony and tense. It was obvious she was taking it very personal that she had not been with Kaname on that plane. As if that would have done any good.

Yuki fidgeted impatiently. Everything had been mobilized very quickly, but time still seemed to be crawling by and there had been an uncomfortably long delay that had something to do with visas and politics that she didn't really understand. She, Aido and Kain were indeed being allowed to tag along with this operation, but that didn't mean anyone was bothering to tell them what was happening. Yuki was anxious to be off. She could tell Aido and Kain were too.

Aido was obviously positively bursting to ask why the hell they were still sitting here, but Seiren had told them all to sit down and shut up in no uncertain terms a few minutes ago when it had seemed like they might be in danger of getting in the way of the last minute equipment loading. Aido had called her a Nazi under his breath to his companions, which she had probably heard, but ignored. Kaname's head of security was obviously in a decidedly bad mood right now and it wasn't wise to push her.

It was Kain though who finally gave up and caught Seiren's attention. "Is there a delay?" he inquired, raising his voice to be heard above the sound of the idling jet engines outside, coming in loudly through the open hatch.

Seiren shook her head, now apparently doing a better job of remaining patient and professional with the two nobles and the human whom she obviously considered as so much extra extraneous baggage to her mission. "New orders, we've got one more coming aboard. Soon as he's on, we'll be underway."

Yuki assumed that 'one more' meant one more member of the extraction or medical team, so she was surprised when a familiar figure bounded quickly up the ramp a few seconds later and made his way towards them.

Soon as he was aboard, Seiren gave the order to close the hatch and returned to her team. The plane was already starting down the runway by the time the smiling blonde reached the VIP seating area.

"Hi," Takuma Ichijo greeted the other three with his usual friendliness as he quickly took a seat, stowing the small suitcase he was carrying. The plane lurched smoothly into the air. "Hope I didn't delay you too much. I just flew in from China, actually. I got here as fast as I could." Takuma looked like he'd just been yanked off a business trip, which was probably the case. He was smiling like he usually did, but it didn't reach his eyes. There was a deep shadow in their green depths that Yuki noticed right away.

Aido raised his eyebrows. "Well, this is turning into old home week, isn't it? What are you doing here?"

"Not that we're not glad to have you along," Kain added, used to covering for his cousin's habit of saying exactly what he was thinking.

Takuma's expression sobered, the shadow in his eyes flickering to the fore. "I got a flight back as soon as I heard," he said quietly. No need to specify what he'd heard, they all knew.

Yuki swallowed softly, determined to keep her composure, although seeing an echo of her own worry and sorrow in Takuma's gentle eyes somehow made it very hard to do. "We're going to find them," she said, feeling the need to state it aloud, like a barrier against her own fears.

Takuma immediately picked up on the use of the word _them _and his expressive eyes flickered with deep sorrow,but he simply nodded. "Of course we are," he agreed firmly. "I'm here to help make sure we can do it as quickly as possible. I heard that the local and regional government is giving Kaname's people a hard time about getting the needed visas and permissions to mobilize this kind of a force inside the borders of Brazil," he informed quickly, not sure how much the others were privy to the political wrangling that had been going on. The concerned, blank looks he got in return told him this was news, so Takuma quickly continued.

"Internal tensions have been running high in that area and a full scale guerilla war has apparently erupted in earnest now, sometime within the past 48 hours," Takuma gave them the quick rundown of the situation that he'd gleaned from Marci on his way over here. "A number of cities and villages have been hit hard. An embassy was attacked and all the staff was killed, along with a lot of tourists who had taken refuge there. The whole area is in lock-down as far as outsiders go. Several other countries are offering to send troops, but given the anti-foreigner sentiments of the rebels that might only complicate matters. The officials insist we keep away for our own good, but they're being unusually unreasonable."

Yuki knew that wasn't an exaggeration. If Kaname's people couldn't steamroller through the proffered objections with the swift, succinct ruthlessness that they usually exhibited, then that meant the waters were probably very, very muddy.

"If things are that bad over there, we can probably bet very little is being done about the crash by local authorities then?" Kain asked grimly, a little surprised to find out that the situation had deteriorated so quickly, but then, he hadn't exactly been keeping up with what was going on in that country right now to start with.

Takuma nodded. "As far as I know, the fighting is currently keeping any kind of investigation of the crash or crash site out of the question for the time being. Actually..." He shook his head somewhat ruefully. "We still don't technically have permission to land. Some officials in the north are being bribed to let us in, according to Marci. So that's where we're heading. But with the way things are going right now, that's no guarantee that they won't change their minds and double cross us, or that some guerilla occupied military outpost might not try to shoot us down anyway. I'm along in case we need more options or local presence. Ichijo Enterprises is already much more established in that corner of the world. It will be easier for my people to throw weight around on the ground when we get there. We have some sizable holdings in Venezuela and Bolivia. If something goes wrong and we need to divert, we can land in Bolivia and go in on the ground. That will take longer, so I hope we don't have to, but if I have to bring an army with me to get in... I will."

Takuma was serious. He was obviously not very concerned about probably starting a border war if he actually did as he said. He would do whatever it took to get to that crash site... and to who might be there. The resolve was clear on his face, and it gave Yuki a bit of comfort. It was still funny for her sometimes to realize how much power Takuma wielded because of his family's massive fortune and business holdings. When it came down to sheer assets and resources, he could mobilize far more than any other vampire could, even Kaname. He and Kaname were friendly competitors every now and again in some business matters, joint venture holders in others, but for the most part they kept out of each other's way in matters of finance. They were too close for something as trivial as business to ever come between them.

Once they hit cruising altitude, Yuki got them all something from the mini-bar, needing the distraction. She distractedly nursed her cola, staring out the window at the clouds. The jet was fast, but the flight was still going to be long. Much too long... She willed the transport to move faster.

_Zero, Kaname... are you out there? Please be there. Please be waiting for us. We're coming..._

Takuma pulled a SAT phone from his pocket and started setting up contingency plans with his people in South America.

* * *

Zero groaned softly, batting clumsily with his fingers at a hot patch on his cheek that some part of his subconscious mind recognized as sunlight.

_Damn... Yuki really should close those shades more often... _The thought chased sluggishly through his mind as his eyes blinked slowly open. The verdant, if blurry, surroundings quickly reminded Zero that he was not in Yuki's little apartment at all. His heart seized for a moment as his foggy mind tried to pick reality from dream as far as recent events were concerned and he looked quickly for Kaname.

Early morning sunlight dappled the leaves, torn earth, and broken tree trunks where it penetrated the darker pool of shade around Zero and Kaname. Small patches of gold played across Kaname's matted brown curls and the stained material of Zero's jacket, still resting partially over the still pureblood's back.

Zero's face and mouth felt sticky. His tongue slid to investigate almost without conscious thought. Blood. There was dried blood on his lips and around his mouth. It wasn't his own. He knew the taste all too well. It was Kaname's.

Zero's hand flew to his face, touching the partially dried substance in horror. He pushed up to sit as he immediately flashed back to his recent dream of drinking the other vampire's blood. It _had_ just been a dream, hadn't it? He hadn't really... oh God... please... he hadn't _really_ bitten his grievously wounded friend as he lay helpless beside him, had he? It didn't matter how delirious he'd been... he couldn't have hurt Kaname, couldn't have abused the pureblood's vulnerability like that... he couldn't...

Almost forgetting to breathe, Zero turned Kaname's out flung arm over gently. His gut clenched and he had to battle to keep himself from throwing up again. Two perfect puncture marks marred the pale wrist. They weren't bleeding, but they were clearly recent. It had not been a dream.

"Kaname? Kaname! Wake up..." Zero rasped softly, almost pleading as he carefully but swiftly checked the other vampire's vitals. The pureblood was still definitely alive, although completely unresponsive. Zero bit his lower lip as his fingers tenderly brushed Kaname's pale, dirt-smudged cheek. There was no forgiving this kind of selfish animal instinct on his part.

With a small start, Zero suddenly realized he was sitting up and he hadn't almost passed out from the pain of changing positions. He looked down towards his legs, touching them gingerly. It was hard to tell under the dirt and dried blood, but his burns were much less severe than they had been last night. They were still there, still fevered from now contained infection, painful to touch and aching as he moved his legs experimentally, but he _could _move them and the pain wasn't overwhelming.

Something tickled at his consciousness. _One of us has to be well enough to move around, and with my back injury... it's not going to be me, not for too long a time... _It was Kaname's voice in barely remembered snatches of memory and Zero's brows furrowed in a thoughtful frown as he looked down at Kaname again. Last night was mostly a large blur, but what Zero remembered most distinctly about the whole, long, hideous nightmare was the sound of Kaname's voice. Always there, although what was actually being said came back only in bits and pieces. He had fragments of entire monologues running through his head, and could have almost sworn that Kaname had been singing to him at one point, but he tried to grasp the elusive memory that had stirred him just now.

_I want you to drink some of my blood now, all right? _

Zero's gut relaxed ever so slightly. Had... had Kaname told him to drink? Or was he just creating excuses because he was desperate for them? No... the memory was real, at least he thought it was. It didn't excuse him for being willing to better his own condition at the expense of Kaname's, but at least Zero could see the gleam of wisdom underneath. They weren't facing very good odds if they were stuck in this one spot. Who knew how long it might be before anyone showed up to investigate the crash? They couldn't afford to just lie around and wait for rescue.

The hunter took stock of his options and leveraged himself carefully to his feet, holding onto the nearby tree trunk for support. His legs protested sharply, but they held him and after a minute or two he could actually think about moving without falling down or passing out being the most likely result.

Reaching down he carefully tugged his jacket more fully over Kaname's back. Shifting broken branches in the tangle above them, Zero made sure that the pureblood was completely in the shade before he slowly limped out of their little enclave. He supposed it was too much to hope that he could find any kind of help out here yet, but you never knew, they might have gone down near a village or city or something... somewhere he could get help. At the least, they needed water, both to drink and to wash their wounds, and Kaname needed blood. Zero would see what he could do about trying to procure both.

He remembered seeing the snaking silver ribbon of a river through the browns and greens of the jungle through the airplane window when they were on their way down. He had no idea how far away it was or in which direction it would lay, but as part of his hunter education, he had had his fair share of wilderness survival training. He would start by a surveying their surroundings and go from there.

"I'll be back, Kaname," he promised softly as he limped slowly away with a backwards glance. He didn't like leaving the pureblood alone and totally vulnerable like this, but he had no choice.

* * *

Kaname didn't remember passing out, but he became aware that it was hot and bright, even though he was fully in the shade. It must be around midday. It was hard to breathe the heavy, humid air and pureblood felt like he was burning up. Vaguely, he thought he might be the one with a fever now. Unusual, but then, he was unusually injured. His system was no doubt shot to hell.

Kaname tried to shift to ease the agonized stiffness in his neck and body but quickly abandoned the attempt when pain stabbed harshly through him in response. Still nothing from his legs, but the rest of him was making up for that... vividly.

He was desperately thirsty... blood, water, _anything, _he didn't care. His mouth and throat were painfully dry and his swollen tongue felt like it was going to choke him. His chest burned and his flushed skin ached from being unable to generate enough moisture to attempt to cool itself by perspiring. Kaname's breath hitched in agony, but he certainly had no extra moisture to spare for tears either.

"Zer...o..?" he croaked weakly, but there was no answer. The stillness around him was unbroken. Kaname forced his eyes open. The world was an unfocused blur of greens and browns and golden patches of ruthless sunlight that made his eyes water just looking at them. He thanked God that he was completely in the shade. Sunlight would feel like lava on his skin right now in his weakened condition.

Zero was nowhere in sight, however, his scent still lingering faintly on the ground beside the pureblood.

Kaname's eyes fluttered closed again. The fact that Zero must be well enough to move meant that he was okay. Relief warred with fear. The pureblood was alone. Alone, paralyzed and completely, utterly helpless. He refused to panic. Hazy though his mind was, he knew Zero would only have left him to go for help. He would be back. Kaname weakly caught the cuff of the jacket he was wrapped in with his fingers, tugging it a little closer, almost burrowing into Zero's scent to distract himself. _Thirsty... so thirsty... so hot... it hurt so bad... _Kaname grit his teeth. Zero would come back. He just needed to be patient. In the end, it wasn't too hard, because a few minutes later he mercifully passed out once more.

Next thing Kaname remembered the air was marginally cooler, the sun slanting at a lower angle and giving the blessed relief of evening to the torn earth. Something beautifully cool was dabbing his burning forehead and cheeks, moisture running down his face.

_Moisture! _Oh God... his lips were moist, it felt so good. He turned his head a little, urgently trying to catch more of the drops with his swollen, begging mouth. Quickly, what felt like a wet cloth was pressed obligingly against his mouth, dabbing gently before it was pulled away. Kaname would have whimpered at the loss if he'd had enough strength. He felt himself being shifted, rolled onto his side. It hurt like hell, but he had no strength to fight and just obliged, head lolling against the ground until a hand slipped to cup his cheek, lifting his head up. Something scratchy, flimsy and vaguely plastic like was pressed to his mouth.

Water flowed onto Kaname's parched lips and tongue, the strong hand holding his head slipping behind his head to cradle it at an angle more conducive to making sure that most of the precious water made it into Kaname's mouth instead of dribbling from the corners. Kaname could have wept for relief, burning throat working desperately, if painfully slowly, as he tried to gulp the soothing liquid. He almost choked and the water stopped. He did whimper this time, pleading.

"Shh, it's okay, there's plenty. Take it slow, Kaname, or you'll choke. Slow..." a soothing voice murmured reassuringly and Kaname relaxed instinctively. _Zero. _

Zero's eyes burned and stung silently as he held Kaname's head cradled tenderly, carefully administering the water. It was so hard to see Kaname this weak. The pureblood had been deliriously calling out for him in a hoarse whisper when he returned a half hour ago. It cut Zero through to wonder how long the pureblood had been calling for him with no answer, but his mission had been a success at least. The river was farther away than he would have liked, but he'd found it eventually. He'd washed and drunk as much water as he could hold without making himself sick, then brought back as much as he could carry for Kaname.

For once he was glad that airlines insisted on that whole stupid 'quart sized zip top bag' rule for liquids and gels when flying. He'd pulled a handful of bags out of the box when packing and carelessly shoved the extras into his pants pocket. They'd been in such a rush to make the plane, he'd not even thought of it again. He'd filled all four of them to maximum capacity with water at the river and was now holding one to Kaname's lips, dribbling water into his mouth as carefully as he could. Kaname was obviously having trouble swallowing, but he was also obviously in desperate need of the hydration.

Zero couldn't afford to waste any of the water on washing Kaname's wounds unfortunately, that was going to have to wait for a second trip. The hunter wanted Kaname to drink everything he had here. Kaname had lost far too much blood, and he needed to get as much liquid into him as he could.

Kaname sucked eagerly, but a little more carefully at the water Zero was administering, feeling the blessed, cool wetness of it all the way down his throat to his stomach, easing some of the ache in his chest and feeling so very, very good. He was still having trouble swallowing, and lost a fair amount down his cheeks and chin, but Zero was patient and careful, administering the water until Kaname had drunk two of the quart baggies worth. Kaname was starting to lose more than he was retaining and he was no longer acting desperate, so Zero decided it would be best to wait and save the other two for in a little while.

Zero tenderly mopped Kaname's flushed face and neck again with the dampened rag he'd torn off the hem of his shirt. The pureblood was starting to revive a little bit under his care and his dark lashes finally fluttered open. Kaname's eyes were unfocused and red, but they drifted in Zero's direction and a very faint smile tugged briefly at his lips. _Knew you'd come back. _

"W..hat... took so... long?" he murmured, mostly unintelligibly, but Zero could just understand. He smiled a little despite himself.

"Sorry, stopped to pick up some lunch on the way back," he murmured, brushing Kaname's hair back from his face with the damp cloth. Setting the cloth aside, Zero reached over and picked up something dark and somewhat large that Kaname couldn't quite focus on. But... he smelt blood. And the other kind of thirst that was still burning, un-sated within him, reacted. Kaname inhaled in a hungry little hiss of air. His fangs, already fully extended, throbbed. It was animal blood, true, which was usually extremely unpalatable to vampires, much like drinking stagnant, putrefied water as opposed to pure. But when you were this hungry, you didn't quibble.

Zero had expected Kaname's reaction and brought the limp creature closer. It was unconscious, but not yet dead. Animal blood was unpalatable enough, it would be even worse if it wasn't fresh. If it hadn't been a matter of survival, Zero might have felt bad about that, but the creature would never feel a thing it was no different than killing it for meat. They just didn't have to worry about cooking it.

Kaname finally managed to focus his eyes enough to see what it was. "Zero... that's a _rat,_" Kaname pointed out in a raspy whisper that still managed to convey a little surprise and a healthy amount of disgust. "A really _big _rat," he added. The pureblood didn't sound all that coherent to be honest and his somewhat slurring tone was precious to hear.

Zero actually chuckled, he couldn't help it. "Yeah, that's what it is," he agreed. He wasn't sure what the proper name was for these giant, tunnel dwelling rat-like creatures, but they had been the only animals between here and the river that he'd been able to spot or catch that had anything close to a decent amount of blood in them.

"Come on, blood is blood. I had one already, it's not that bad," he lied. Actually, it was revolting, but that was because it was animal blood, it didn't matter which animal it came from. Still, he'd forced himself to choke it down because it didn't matter what it tasted like, it would still help him survive. And he certainly _wasn't _going to be drinking from Kaname again, that was _damn _sure. Animal blood wouldn't give the same level of healing benefits as human or vampire blood would, but it would give _some_, and given Kaname's desperate condition even a little help would do him a world of good.

Kaname exhaled in what might have been a snort, but the red shining urgently in his eyes said that it didn't matter what the animal was, he needed the blood. Now that his thirst for water had been quenched, he was doubly aware of the burning for blood that ached through him. There were a few awkward moments as Zero tried to get the animal to Kaname's mouth in a convenient manner. Kaname tried to help, but he was uncoordinated and moving was so painful it almost made him cry.

Alarmed, Zero quickly coaxed him to stay still, holding the limp creature for him. Kaname bit down with some difficulty. He still felt weak and weird and his throat was so raw it was hard to swallow much less draw blood. The animal's fur was rough and unpleasant against his mouth. This was so disgusting. The blood was even worse. Kaname nearly gagged and released it, turning his head away, crimson dripping in a small line from his chin. He'd never tried animal blood before and had been telling himself it wouldn't be that bad. It was. But he was so thirsty... the vague hint of copper under the putrid, muddy flavor had his senses screaming. With a small moan, Kaname tried again, gulping down a few disgusting mouthfuls before he felt like he was going to be sick. He needed the blood so much, he craved it desperately, but he was too weak and he couldn't force himself to choke it down. The effort of sucking it out was already proving too much for him and his head lolled lifelessly in Zero's grip, face scrunched up in frustrated anguish.

Zero was deeply worried. He pressed the animal back to Kaname's lips, but the pureblood turned his head away. "C-can't..." he mumbled weakly. He didn't want to sound like a baby, but he really couldn't find the strength to get it down.

Kaname's eyes fluttered shut, his breath coming in harsh little rasps. He wanted to pass out again but he couldn't. He felt sick to his stomach and was struggling not to throw up. His body was burning... burning for so many reasons... _make it stop... _

Smooth, moist flesh brushed his mouth – Zero's lips, pressed gently to his. Kaname stilled into the soft, familiar gesture of the kiss. Zero tenderly parted his lover's lips and Kaname tasted blood again. It was still the disgusting taste of the animal blood, but coming from Zero's warm, strong mouth instead of the animal it originated from, lowered the gag factor significantly.

Zero broke the kiss long enough to go back for another mouthful of blood before returning to Kaname to deliver it. His guess had been right; it was easier for Kaname to take it this way, if he didn't have to do the work of getting it out himself. The hunter was sure that the slight _distraction_ factor didn't hurt either. Zero caressed Kaname's tongue softly with his as he passed him the blood, kissing the pureblood with intense tenderness and concern.

Kaname sucked Zero more fully into his mouth, wanting him... he was still clumsy with weakness though, and his fangs nicked Zero's tongue. Kaname froze at the beautiful taste of Zero's blood, knowing he needed to pull back before he was overwhelmed. But Zero just kissed him carefully and went back for more blood. The hunter intentionally slid against Kaname's teeth the next time, letting a little of his own blood mix with that of the animal each time as he imparted it, helping make it more palatable. The warm, familiar sweetness of Zero's mouth, his taste and his kisses helped dull the nauseating flavor and Kaname drank slowly, weakly, one mouthful at a time, from his lover's patient lips.

After a while, the burning in Kaname's chest eased and he felt more peaceful and comfortable, despite the rest of the pain. He was tired again... Zero regarded him with a tender, quiet gaze when he straightened up; realizing that the vampire he was kissing had slipped away from consciousness again. Kaname had gotten a good amount of blood into him, and Zero hoped it would start to help.

Evening was lengthening. Zero was exhausted from his trek earlier, but with a little effort, he let his fingertips and nails sharpen to claws as Kaname had long ago taught him to do and he set about skinning and cleaning the now quite dead rat as best he could. It shouldn't go to waste; they could eat the rest of it later. He would keep that and the rest of the water for the next time Kaname woke up. Ironically, eating rare meat was favored by vampires, having none of the disgusting flavor that was to be found by drinking that same animal's blood. Zero couldn't account for why that was, except that when drinking blood, vampires were looking for something different than they were when they were eating food. For instance, Kaname was very fond of rare steaks, but he would never have drunk blood from a cow. It was just... different somehow.

As the moon started to rise, Zero settled down by Kaname again, pulling his friend's head into his lap. He wondered how long it was going to be before anyone came to investigate the crash. Sure, responses might have been slowed by the terrain and the state of the country's resources, but surely... it should be soon, shouldn't it? He'd heard a helicopter buzz by overhead when he was near the river earlier, he hoped that was a sign that someone was finally showing an interest. Leaning against the tree behind them, Zero watched over the unconscious pureblood as the night slid past.

* * *

Alvaro Covas, Mayor of Sao Paulo, listened to the rapid words coming over the phone held to his ear. He nodded, a slow smile tugging at the corners of his angular mouth. "Sí, entiendo," he said simply, indicating his understanding before hanging up.

His advisor, a slightly taller man named Cesar, came to stop in front of Covas' desk and fixed him with an inquiring look, waiting for the other to finish. Cesar's hair was grey with age, while Covas' was still jet black, cropped close to his square face.

"The country is going to hell in a hand basket, Alvaro, what exactly can you possibly have to smile about?" Cesar inquired somewhat dourly.

Covas waved his hand dismissively at the vague reference to the guerrilla uprising, clearly delighted about something else. "In every cloud, there is a silver lining, yes? Sometimes fate, she smiles on you unexpectedly. That was Miguel. He flew over the place where that plane went down. He says there is nothing left, _nada. _Just a big crater. There is no chance that anyone could have survived, including our dear friend Señor Kuran."

Cesar gave a single nod, understanding now. "Ah, yes, that is good news. The people from his company, they have been so persistent in wanting to come down and investigate, I was starting to worry that there might have been survivors after all."

"I was as well," Covas admitted. "It has not been easy trying to keep them out. News of the crash was so extraordinarily lucky for us; I would have been severely disappointed to find out that it was not as bad as was feared."

They both knew that if Kaname had made his scheduled meeting, things would not have gone well for them. They had been secretly stealing supplies from convoys meant for the joint venture they 'shared' with Kuran Industries and blaming it on rebel activity for some time, but Covas realized he had made a mistake when he tried to use their own illegal activities as a reason to default on the bargain he had with the Kuran. Kaname had a reputation as someone you did not want to cross and Covas had learned too late that the young businessman probably had proof of what they'd been doing and was coming to confront them about it.

"Then my news is not as bad as I feared," Cesar said, looking a little relieved. "I had come to tell you that Guillermo has been pressured into letting Kuran's people into his territory."

"Guillermo's an idiot," Covas snorted. "Pressured? I'm sure all they had to do was wave money at him. But no matter now. Still... it is better to be safe than sorry, yes?" Covas looked thoughtful. The unforeseen plane crash had been like a gift from heaven, and Covas wasn't about to let anything foul that up.

"Send a squad out to the crash site. Have them check it over personally. Tell them to _ensure _that there are positively no survivors for those people to find. You understand?" he said slowly. Probably totally unnecessary, but... as he'd said – better safe than sorry.

Cesar nodded. "Sí, I understand. No survivors."


	6. Lost and Found

_A/N: Thank you for all the great reviews!! Don't forget to check out my individual review responses. Check my bio area for more information on how to find those. _

**Chapter Six: "Lost and Found"**

Un-hushed footsteps whispered and crunched softly through the jungle with a sureness that spoke of familiarity with the terrain. The murmur of sparse conversation floated on the air, flavored with the faint exoticness of another dialect.

If Zero had not been so drained, he would have heard them. If Kaname had not been half dead he would have sensed their approach a mile off. But as it was, both vampires remained still, unconscious of the world around them as they slept; Zero slumped against the tree, Kaname's head still resting in his lap.

Flocks of waking birds called to one another in the dim, early dawn gloom as they winged overhead or chattered in the sheltering canopy of the trees in the distance. Nearby a dog whined and gave a short bark. Catching scent of something out of place the animal padded over to investigate, making its way into the bowl of the tree snarl where Kaname and Zero rested.

The murmur of conversation suddenly fell silent and the footsteps grew hushed, coming closer as people came to investigate the dog's discovery and the two figures amid the tangle of the trees were spotted.

"Well, well, what have you found, boy? What have we here?"

Zero was vaguely aware of a strange voice speaking strange words, and the snuffling noises of a dog. It drew him sluggishly back towards consciousness. He didn't remember having drifted off. Something smooth, cool and hard nudged his cheek where his head was hanging forward against his chest.

Zero blinked his eyes open with some effort... and found himself staring down the barrel of an AK automatic rifle.

--

"Yuki, we're getting ready to land," Kain's quiet voice near her ear roused Yuki from a light slumber. She could feel the subtle change in cabin pressure and lifted her head from where it had been pillowed, automatically brushing away the strands of hair that clung to her cheek... strands of... blonde hair? Yuki realized there was a warm weight resting on her shoulder and blinked in somewhat sleepy surprise as she looked down and saw that Aido was also sleeping, his head pillowed on her shoulder. He must have dozed off after she had, and as she slept, her head had tilted to rest atop his.

Yuki resisted the urge to flush a little and looked somewhat uncertainly at the slumbering vampire. Aido must have been a pretty heavy sleeper because her moving hadn't seemed to disturb him. She was going to give him a shake, but suddenly she couldn't. How many times, had Zero or Kaname fallen asleep on her shoulder like that? A sudden, unbidden lump rose in her throat.

Kain caught her initial look of surprised uncertainty and couldn't help grinning. Usually, Aido fell asleep on his shoulder, but Yuki had been between them. Directing a wry wink at Yuki, he reached over and gave his cousin a light cuff upside the head. "Hey, genius, wake up, class has already started, you're late..."

Aido startled awake with a jerk, looking around quickly with bleary-eyed alarm before he remembered where he was and that he hadn't gone to class in over a year. Aido scowled at his cousin. "What the hell is wrong with you?" he grumped.

Yuki smiled faintly, distracted a bit from her pain by their antics. She slid out of her seat and left the two cousins to sort things out while she went over to where she saw Takuma and Seiren talking near the cargo.

"What's the plan?" she inquired when they both paused in their conversation to look her way. "Did we get permission to land?"

Takuma nodded an affirmative to the last, but it was Seiren who answered the first.

"We start for the crash site as soon as we land," Seiren told her. "We're going to have a long trip." She looked meaningfully at Takuma and Yuki got the idea there was more to this conversation than she was privy to.

Takuma sighed softly. "It's as close as we could get inside the country, and the only airport in that territory large enough to land something this big," he said quietly.

Seiren looked a trifle guilty, she was still upset but had no right to take it out on Takuma who was only trying to help, and doing a fine job of it too. "I know," she said softly, with a hint of apology. "I'll go get the others ready so we can disembark as soon as we touch down."

Takuma nodded to her before turning back to Yuki. "It's going to take a day or more to reach the suspected crash site from where we're putting down," he told her by way of partial explanation for Seiren's unhappy mood. "You'd better go sit back down and strap in for landing," he added as he felt the plane angling more steeply as they dropped altitude.

Yuki retook her seat. She couldn't blame Seiren for her edginess... deep down, Yuki felt the same way. She felt like time and distance was almost a physical enemy that was thwarting them, trying to keep them from their goal...

_But are you really in such a hurry to know what exactly you might find there, Yuki? _A small voice inside whispered the question. _You're acting like all you need to do is get there and they'll be waiting for you. You know that's probably not the case. You know they're both probably already dea..._

"NO!" Yuki clamped her hands over her ears as if she could block the thought out, clenching her eyes closed and unaware that she'd spoken the denial aloud. Kaname and Zero couldn't be dead... they couldn't... because she would have no reason nor desire to go on living if she'd lost the two of them.

Yuki felt a warm touch on her shoulder and she opened her eyes slowly to find both Kain and Aido looking at her with quiet concern. She smiled weakly at them, but couldn't find the words to say she was okay. Because she wasn't. They seemed to know and mercifully didn't try to offer any reassurances, which would only have felt empty at the moment.

"We'll be landing soon," Aido said instead, quietly, his tone betraying the same heart-sick urgency to get out there that Yuki felt in her gut as well. Somehow, that helped a bit. She gave a small nod and settled back in her seat.

--

Zero froze, eyes crossing slightly for a moment as they automatically attempted to focus on the muzzle of the gun now pointing between his eyes, before quickly refocusing on the man holding it. Dark haired, sporting a half-beard, well-worn khaki colored fatigues and a short cigarette held in one corner of his mouth, the man regarded Zero with curiosity.

It was the inquisitiveness in the look that kept Zero from doing anything stupid before he'd had a chance to come fully back to his senses. There were six other men behind the first, all of them armed, and Zero could sense more very nearby. _Crap..._ Usually, they would have still had more than a fair chance, but Zero still wasn't doing too good and Kaname was out of the question. So Zero bit back his first, panicked reaction to waking up with a gun shoved in his face and regarded the newcomers warily.

"Que es usted? ¿Qué estás haciendo aquí?" the man with the gun demanded.

Zero just blinked and looked at him, not understanding. Okay, learning more languages was definitely on his to-do list. Kaname, who very well might have understood, was still out cold.

Somehow, Zero didn't think these men were rescue workers. They looked more like extras from a Rambo flick. They wore no uniforms, but there was a kind mismatched similarity in their hodgepodge of worn and weapons-laden attire. Guerillas or bandits, possibly? Or maybe even just locals out to check out the crash? Zero didn't know, but they were the first people he'd seen since the plane went down, so it was worth trying to take the admittedly slim chance that maybe they could be persuaded to help.

The hunter swallowed and gave his head a small shake. "I don't understand," he told them. It was a good bet they wouldn't know his native language either, but Zero tried English, in which he was pretty fluent and which he hoped, given their location, these people might at least recognize.

The man with the gun didn't seem surprised that Zero didn't speak their language. The two strangers certainly didn't _look _like they were from around here. Holding the rifle with one hand, he flicked his cigarette with the other before putting it back to his mouth.

"Who are you, and what are you doing out here?" the man repeated, his words flavored by the accent of his native tongue. The gun had edged down a little, the man obviously wasn't too wary now that he'd gotten a better look at the two vampires. Zero and Kaname both looked banged up to hell, and were apparently registering pretty low on his threat meter. That was a mistake, but for Zero to try anything in a situation like this would have been an even bigger mistake. Best to let them think he was as helpless as he could see they thought, and keep that small advantage just in case.

"I'm Zero, this is Kaname," Zero introduced slowly, mind racing as he tried to come up with some kind of explanation for why they were here. The truth would never be believed. The hunter didn't give their last names mostly because he was used to Kaname's being too recognizable. Probably wouldn't be here, but all the same, he didn't want to advertise who exactly it was who was laying so vulnerably on his lap right now. "There was... an accident," he murmured lamely, unable to come up with anything better at the moment. It was kind of hard to think when your head was spinning and you had a rifle in your face. "Who are you?" Zero turned the question around.

The man grinned, but it wasn't a pleasant expression. "Sergio," he replied simply, apparently almost equally as wary at giving out too much personal information. "And these are my men, my little... familia, eh?" He grinned, the irony in his tone confirming Zero's suspicion that they were bandits, whatever they called themselves. "This little accident of yours, she didn't have anything to do with an exploding tanker, now did she?" Sergio's manner said that he obviously thought he knew the answer.

"You think they could have survived that, and made it all the way over here? I don't know... what if they came from that?" one of the others spoke up, jerking his head back towards the field of disaster behind them with an obvious little shiver. They apparently knew about the crash.

Sergio spared his companion a withering, incredulous look. "Oh, sí, sí... there's nothing left of the plane, but these two, maybe they parachuted out, huh? Idiota! No one could have survived that. No... look at those burns," he nodded towards the two vampires. "They must have been part of the convoy. Some of the gringo estudiantes de la Universidad, sí, Zero?" he turned a hard look back towards the hunter. His accent made Zero's name sound more like _Serro _and he was slipping slightly in and out of English and Spanish, but it was still understandable_. _

Zero wasn't sure what to say. He had no idea what they were talking about and wasn't sure if confirming what they thought would be a good thing or a bad thing for them. But if he denied it, he would have to provide an alternative explanation. In the end, Zero simply remained quiet, saying nothing. Sergio took it as an affirmative.

The older man chuckled unpleasantly. "What is the matter, amigo? This is not the summer trip you signed up for, eh?" He spit on the ground derisively. "You wealthy kids with nothing better to do than come down here and act better than us... I am surprised the jungle, she has let you live this long."

Zero frowned slightly as he tried to piece together the incomplete picture Sergio was painting. He obviously thought they were college students of some kind, and obviously didn't have a very high opinion of that. Zero had no way of knowing that the situation in the country had degraded to riot and near war during the relatively short time since they left home to now, nor of knowing that Sergio and his group of guerilla bandits had attacked and raided a convoy only about five or six miles from here not long ago. A tanker carrying gasoline had accidentally been hit by stray weapons fire and caused a lot of damage. That had been the source of the explosions that both Kaname and Zero had been too out of it to notice their first night.

It had been a government convoy, comprised of supplies and goods heading from the city to one of their bases among the more remote villages. Aside from the normal workers and soldiers, there had also been a group of foreign university grad students traveling with convoy, come out here to study the rainforest or some such thing. It had been a poor time for them to make the trip. The tanker blast had taken out a good number of the other vehicles as well, including the bus in which the unfortunate students had been huddled. Given the foreignness, and apparent age of the two injured young men before him, Sergio surmised that not all the students had been killed after all. These two must have escaped in the chaos and somehow made it all the way here. Too bad for them.

"We need help," Zero said, watching Sergio carefully. He may not know what all was going on, but he got the idea that this man did not like them and was not likely to be nominated for any humanitarian awards any time soon. Still... it was their only shot. "My friend is hurt. I need to get him to the nearest town so I can get him help. Where is that?"

Sergio was mildly impressed by Zero's calmness and the lack of babbling and hysteria that he would have expected from pampered brats like these, dumped into a situation so far out of their experience like this. So he actually crouched down, weapon resting on his knees, and took a closer look at Kaname, lifting the jacket covering him before Zero could safely try to stop him. Kaname stirred on Zero's lap, his features creasing in pain as he slowly started coming back to consciousness, brown eyes cloudy and unseeing as they fluttered open. Sergio's eyebrows went up and his face wrinkled in disgust. He dropped the jacket and rose back to his feet.

"Your friend is beyond help, amigo. He should be dead, and he soon will be. The nearest village is many, many miles away. Even alone, you will never make it. The beasts or the jungle, she will get you first. That is a slow death, amigo. Maybe I should put you both out of your misery now, huh?" Sergio raised his gun once more, drawing a bead between Zero's eyes. Behind the fake concern, it was clear to see that he would simply enjoy shooting them. Foreigners like these had no place in his country. They used the lands and the people for their own selfish gains while looking down on them like beggars.

Zero tensed. He'd already been surreptitiously getting ready to ease Kaname's head off his lap and free himself for action if needed, but he would attack only as a last resort. Given the situation, there was no way he would be able to avoid taking a few bullets if this turned into a firefight, and he was ill equipped to deal with more injury right now. And Kaname... Zero didn't even want to think of what it would do to Kaname. If they were really as far away from any kind of civilization as Sergio claimed... it was a risk he was loath to take when the odds were so badly against them.

"Sergio, wait! We can make it worth your while to help us!" Zero protested swiftly, trying to buy them some time. Sergio thought they were rich kids down here for some kind of field trip or vacation; Zero would try to take advantage of that angle. "Our families will pay to get us back safely." It wasn't quite a lie, despite the fact that neither Zero nor Kaname actually had any family to speak of. But Kuran Enterprises would pay very handsomely for their safe return, he was sure, if it came to that. Zero knew he was very possibly putting them into an undesirable situation, but it beat being killed.

He felt a small pressure on his thigh and realized that Kaname was giving him a light squeeze of approval. The pureblood was obviously still struggling to come around and get up to speed with what was happening, but he must have gotten the gist of what Zero was trying to do.

"Just help us get somewhere with a phone, let me make a call, and you have my word, I'll make sure you're generously compensated," Kaname spoke up for the first time, his voice raspy from sleep and injury, but still managing to hold that reasonable, negotiating tone that Zero recognized so well by now.

Sergio actually looked a bit surprised that the brunette _could _speak. He'd gotten only a brief glimpse of his injuries, but it was enough. That kid shouldn't be breathing still, much less speaking. He couldn't possibly have long left to live.

Sergio glanced thoughtfully back towards his fellows, as if silently looking for opinions. Taking on two badly injured foreign brats was not his idea of a good time, and he hadn't been lying about how far away the nearest place where one could hope to find a phone might be. The country was in turmoil, and although he personally was more of a mercenary than a revolutionary, it was a good time to be making a fortune for yourself. Chaos bred opportunity. Sergio had worked too long and too hard for this; he didn't want to waste any of that opportunity meddling with these two, especially since they could just be lying to try to save their hides. But at the same point... how hard would it be, really? To bring them along and sit on them for a while until they could get to one of the cities that had phone and wire transfer services to test their story? He could always kill them later. Easy money from anxious overseas parents had a nice ring to it. Maybe this _was _an opportunity, rather than a distraction. Yes... perhaps his boss, Ramon, would like this and it would make up for other recent... miscalculations... on Sergio's part.

"Okay," Sergio said dispassionately as he turned his gaze back on Zero. "Then come with us. But just you, Zero. I told you, he isn't going to make it," Sergio nodded towards Kaname. "We have a lot of ground to cover today and I won't waste my time with a dying man."

Zero's jaw set and he glared defiantly at Sergio for the mere suggestion that he would leave Kaname behind. Sergio read the clear invitation to go to hell in the blazing silver gaze and was grimly amused, if also angered. The boy had balls; he had to give him that.

"No! He has to come too," Zero insisted stubbornly. "He's made it this long, hasn't he? Look, the truth is he's the one with the money. You won't get as much for me without both of us together."

Sergio snorted, obviously not liking being countermanded, but not entirely willing to take the risk of disbelieving the silver haired boy. His cigarette had burned down to almost the butt and he dropped it on the ground, grinding it out with a boot heel. "I see, and your friend, he can walk, keep up with us? Hm?" he demanded coldly.

Zero's lips were still forming a tight, defiant line as he held Sergio's gaze steadily. "I can carry him," he said simply, definitively. Shifting, Zero eased to a crouch, turning and carefully lifting Kaname into his arms before rising the rest of the way as if to prove his point.

A sharp groan of pain escaped Kaname's lips, but he stifled it quickly. The fingers of one hand curled tightly into the front of Zero's shirt and Kaname pressed the side of his face weakly against Zero's shoulder, breathing in small, tense little gasps to suppress the agony of being moved, and of the way that Zero had no choice but to hold him, one arm under his knees, the other around Kaname's shoulders. The pureblood was doing better since Zero had gotten the water and blood into him, but _better_ was still a long way from _well. _

Sergio gave a tense, dangerous little smile as he regarded the protective way Zero was holding the other boy too him. The kid was a fool, but so what? Let him find that out on his own time. "Fine, then do so. And when you can no longer carry him, or if you slow us down, _then_ we will shoot him and leave him, and you had just better hope and pray that mommy and daddy will pay enough to get you back in one piece by yourself."

Zero just glared silently. He was hurting, and the day was starting to heat up as the sun rose higher, but he would carry Kaname until doomsday if he had to. If Sergio thought he was going to frighten him, he could just think again. Zero lived with vampires. This man couldn't even get close to scary.

Displeased at not getting the desired reaction from Zero, Sergio spat on the ground again before gesturing with his gun for Zero to come out from under the semi-tangle of broken trees. The hunter did, and Sergio's men formed a loose circle around them, herding the two vampires around to the right. The dog patted along behind them. As soon as they cleared the tree snarl, Zero saw the other men that he'd been sensing, but unable to see before. Twenty, maybe thirty of them. They seemed to have been on their way somewhere when the dog distracted their attention and Sergio's small group had broken off to investigate.

Seeing them, Zero felt a small sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. He'd been hoping his senses were off and there hadn't really been that many of them. There was no way he could take on this many in his current condition. It seemed like the thing to do for now then was to play hostage and wait for some better opportunity to revise their situation.

The rest of the group was looking at Zero and Kaname with open curiosity and surprise as they emerged. There were a few rapid exchanges in Spanish between Sergio and several of the others that Zero couldn't follow, but he assumed was Sergio explaining who they were and what the plan was. A few moments later, the two vampires were ushered to the middle of the very well armed and not so well bathed group. No one told them not to try anything funny. They didn't have to. It was clear that the instant these men thought they were more trouble than the possible money they could get out of them was worth, they were dead.

"Come on, we need to make the rendezvous with Ramon by nightfall, we cannot keep him waiting, so we need to keep a good pace. Ándale! Rapido, let's go!" Sergio called out as the entire party started moving forward again. Since he had bothered to say it in English, Zero knew the message was aimed at him. Sergio was warning him not to slow them down. Zero grit his teeth, holding Kaname as carefully as he could, and doggedly fell into pace with their captors.

--

It was around noon, when the small commando unit of government troops sent by Mayor Covas arrived at the crash site to find it smelling like death, buzzing with flies and holding very little wreckage bigger than the size of dinner plates.

Commander Valdez looked around skeptically as he swatted a few insects away from his face. He didn't know why Mayor Covas was even remotely concerned that there might have been any survivors. This was exactly the scene he had expected to find here. No one could have walked away from this. But he had his orders. Search the area for survivors and make sure there weren't any, in any manner necessary.

"Spread out, establish a grid and start searching!" he called to his men. Their faces mirrored his thoughts about how likely they were to find anything out here, but they were too well trained to protest and merely fanned out to follow orders.

--

Kaname's body trembled softly in Zero's arms as he stumbled painfully along, trying to keep up with the swift, steady pace of the guerillas, who seemed to be truly concerned about making their rendezvous on time. The pureblood was trying to control his breathing to help him deal with the agony he was in, but his body was in shock. Even though he was in no danger of dying, his body was still having all the same symptoms as anyone else who was as badly burned and broken as he was. It was so bad... _so _bad... and each jarring, stumbling step was a new and indescribable world of pain. He knew Zero was doing little better, worse maybe, since he was being forced to carry him like this. _Oh God... _he felt so guilty and useless. It wasn't right that Zero should have to be supporting and taking care of _him. _He was supposed to be the strong one, damn it! He wasn't supposed to be a burden. He wasn't supposed to be so damn frustratingly, terrifyingly helpless. It shouldn't be happening like this.

Zero's arm around his burned shoulders felt like sheer agony each time it moved a little or had to readjust to hold him better, but Kaname bit his lip until it bled, trying not to cry out every time Zero shifted him. He'd felt Zero tense up and smelled the scent of his misery the first time that had happened. He knew Zero was trying hard not to have to keep moving him, although he could feel the trembling strain in his lover's arms. If he was forced to be this useless, the least he could do was try to make it easier on Zero by not making him feel guilty. Kaname buried his face deeply against the side of Zero's neck, inhaling the sweet, familiar scent of the other's salty, perspiration slicked body. He held onto that, held onto Zero's scent and his nearness to help him get through the unbearable pain.

Zero knew Kaname was maintaining his silence only through great force of will. Zero's head was swimming under the hot sun, his muscles ached and the now mild but still healing burns on his legs screamed bloody murder, but it hurt him most to know how badly the other vampire was doing. He would have done anything to be able to ease his pain. He wished he still had his bag, his herbs... hell even some morphine. It would wash through Kaname's amped-up vampire system very quickly, but at least it would give him _some _relief.

"Hey, you holding up okay?" he whispered breathlessly to the pureblood by way of distraction.

"Yes..." Kaname managed to grit out quietly. "I think my spine is... finally starting to mend..." he had to speak in small bursts and breathe carefully between them. "I can feel my legs again."

Despite everything, Zero actually brightened slightly. "Good! That's great."

Kaname grimaced ruefully, his breath sobbing softly against Zero's shoulder as every nerve in his body screamed at him, including the reawakened ones in his legs. He could feel them, but moving them was still another story. "At the moment, it's really not," he muttered.

Zero gave a soft, ragged snort. "Oh, yeah..."

Kaname kept his eyes closed, trying to focus somewhere beyond the pain. He was actually getting better... but ironically, that's what was making everything so much worse. Nerves were reconnecting, coming back to life. Feeling was rushing back to badly damaged areas of his body and swamping him with even more agony than before. It was a horrible transition phase, and he was trapped in it because his body didn't have enough strength or blood reserve to hurry the process along. The fact that he was being constantly moved and jarred at the same time didn't help at all.

Zero stumbled on a rise in the ground that he hadn't seen under some rough brush and just managed not to fall, forced to grip Kaname tightly to him to keep from dropping him. Kaname hissed sharply through his teeth, but still kept quiet. Zero's vision was blurring double. It was so damn _hot... _he had no idea how much farther he was going to be able to force himself before his burning, trembling legs gave out. He clearly remembered Sergio's threat about what would happen if he couldn't carry Kaname and keep up, however... and he doggedly kept forcing one foot in front of the other.

_Give me strength. Please, give me strength... _he prayed silently, hoping someone was listening. He was reaching his limits.

Zero felt moisture on his neck, sliding down to his collarbone and along his perspiration slicked chest. Another traced the same path. But it wasn't sweat. The drops were too big. They were warm, smelt distinctively of a certain kind of salt, and were falling to his neck from where Kaname's face was pressed against him.

The pain in his heart momentarily eclipsed the pain in his body as Zero realized that Kaname was actually _crying _against his neck in agony. He understood then that the pureblood must be in absolute hell. He'd never let those tears fall in a situation like this if they weren't being forced from him completely against his will. And Kaname's will was pretty damn immovable.

Zero set his jaw, trying to hold the broken pureblood as utterly gently as he could, trying hard to minimize the jarring of steps. Zero tilted his head a little to the side, his cheek lightly caressing Kaname's matted brown curls in a comforting gesture.

"Kaname," he murmured softly, almost sub-vocalizing, speaking in his throat, his lips barely moving in order to keep their conversation private. He knew Kaname could hear him. "Drink from me... it will help and they won't be able to see what you're doing with your head against my shoulder like that," he whispered in the same almost inaudible tone.

Kaname's head gave a small but quick shake against his shoulder, despite how much it hurt the pureblood to move. No. No way in hell.

Zero understood Kaname didn't want to weaken him any further when he was already in such bad shape and being forced to support them both, but Zero desperately wanted to give Kaname some relief, and if they were careful, it would help him too, rather than hurt him.

"Kaname, please," Zero pleaded softly, taking a different tact that he knew had a better chance of success. "I'm having a really hard time here... I need the endorphins. Just take a little. I can spare it and the adrenaline will help me keep going." Zero knew Kaname would understand what he was saying. A vampire's bite, especially when given to another vampire, released a slew of endorphins, adrenaline and hormones into the one being bitten. The chemicals dulled the pain receptors in the brain and stimulated the pleasure centers instead – hence the reason that having someone sinking their teeth into your neck could contradictorily feel so incredibly good.

Kaname paused at Zero's words. He hadn't thought of it that way. He knew Zero was still trying to do this for him, but... the hunter was right, as long as he only took a very, very little bit, maybe it would help Zero too.

"Zero..." the hushed, pained whisper was hoarse and tense.

Zero just stroked Kaname's hair encouragingly with his cheek again. Hesitantly, he felt Kaname's lips connect tentatively with his neck. Under the cover of their position, the pureblood weakly kissed and licked his throat with the loving, lavish attention that he knew how to give so well. Zero felt a small, instinctive thrill rise through him, despite his pain and utter weariness. Already, the adrenaline in his body angled up a bit at the contact, at the promise of what was to come that his body had learned to look for and to crave.

For a minute or two, that's all Kaname did, and Zero was beginning to wonder if the pureblood intended to refuse after all when he felt fangs brush his skin. His breath hitched softly and he had to concentrate very carefully on watching where he was putting his feet so he didn't lose himself to the sensation. The smooth, hard fangs brushed his neck with the slow, deliberate familiarity of a lover. Even half dead, Kaname knew how to milk the most response from him, and he was obviously trying to do exactly that – give Zero the maximum benefit of the bite endorphins. Of course... the fact that Zero was delicious and that even just the act of kissing his neck helped ease Kaname's mind a little off his own pain didn't hurt either.

Kaname intentionally lost himself, tasting the sweet, salty sweat and feeling the thrum of the hunter's life blood pulsing under his tongue. He loved the way Zero's pulse quickened when his fangs scraped ever so lightly across his skin.

Zero closed his eyes for a brief moment when Kaname's fangs finally broke the surface and sank down into his neck.

_Zero... _Kaname felt a bone-deep shudder of relief as the hunter's sweet, sweet blood filled his mouth and soothed his senses. He felt guilty, but grateful. Despite his strong desire to gulp harshly he lapped the intoxicating elixir only very slowly, lathing Zero's neck softly with his tongue, attempting to invoke as much of a reaction and inject as much pureblood saliva into the bite as he could .

The skilled lips and tongue carefully caught every drop of his blood that spilt, allowing none to fall or go to waste, their intimate act hidden from their captors by Kaname's hair and Zero's chin.

--

The endorphins and natural pain reduction induced by Kaname's bite did indeed give Zero a second wind, and although Kaname was careful to only drink a little, it did him good. Kaname passed out in Zero's arms and remained unconscious for several hours, for which Zero was actually grateful, even though it made him harder to carry. As evening drew on, however, Kaname once more awakened and Zero's strength was starting to fail.

Surely... they must be almost to their destination... just a little further, right? It couldn't be much farther, they were supposed to be meeting somebody at nightfall, right? Nightfall was swiftly approaching, so... they had to be almost there...

_Almost there... _

It had turned into a kind of mantra for Zero. His muscles were burning and he felt feverish again. His vision was blurring and it was difficult to see anything except the backs of the men ahead of him whom he fixed on and simply kept following with dogged determination.

_Almost there..._

He'd been telling himself that for what felt like hours.

_Almost there... _

Zero stumbled on something, he wasn't sure what. Maybe it was just his weary, abused legs finally betraying him. He couldn't catch himself this time. His knees jammed painfully into the earth as he attempted to roll in some manner that would protect Kaname from the brunt of the impact. There really wasn't any way to do so though and the pureblood hit hard too, pain flaring through him.

Zero was utterly exhausted from Kaname's weight, his still healing body and the swift pace that the bandits had been keeping for hours. His vision swam.

Unexpectedly, a rough boot caught him in the ribs and Zero grunted in pain. A few more sharp, irritated blows rained down on he and Kaname and before Zero could try to protect the pureblood from the undeserved abuse, he was dragged back up to his knees by a firm grip in his hair.

Several of the men were taunting him in Spanish, probably telling him to move, or get up or something of the like. Zero didn't know and didn't care; their voices seemed to come from far away. He was so tired...

Sergio's clipped tones cut through the fog as the guerilla leader shoved his way back through the ranks, demanding to know what the holdup was. He saw Zero and Kaname on the ground and didn't waste time with words. He merely stalked over and pointed his rifle at Kaname's head, clicking the safety off.

Sergio wasn't playing games. You didn't keep someone like Ramon waiting and they were already bordering on running late. The fiasco with accidentally incinerating half the convoy they had intended to hijack was a black mark on Sergio's record, and he wasn't going to give Ramon any more reason for displeasure. That was not healthy. Sergio could not afford to be slowed down, and this boy was literally dead weight.

He pulled the trigger, but his shot went harmlessly up into the trees, scattering birds with irritated screeches of protest. Sergio blinked, frozen for half a moment and wondering if his eyes were playing tricks on him. He hadn't seen Zero move, didn't know how the boy had gotten from where he was being held a moment ago to here, but Zero had put himself between Sergio and Kaname and caught hold of the barrel of his gun, jerking it up towards the sky as Sergio had fired, all in the space of a heartbeat.

Angrily, Sergio pulled himself out of his shock and backhanded Zero sharply, throwing the hunter back to the ground. Zero didn't have the strength to dodge, getting to Sergio in time had taken too much out of him.

"El pendejo!" Sergio cursed at him, bringing his rifle to bear on Zero. "I warned you once; I will not do so again. I am not so sure you are worth this trouble, mis amigos."

A strange, cold wind rattled through the trees and the evening seemed to darken as if a thundercloud had rolled in, causing several of the men to glance up towards the canopy of tree leaves above them. Cold seeped into the hearts and marrow of everyone present and hands quickly slid to guns as they looked around, distracted and jumpy, not knowing why the hair on the backs of their necks were standing on end and they could all swear that the devil was breathing in their ear.

Zero sat up, his gaze shooting to Kaname. He knew the sensation too well to misunderstand what was happening. The pureblood was pissed and all of nature was reacting to him and to the stormy aura he was pulling.

Sergio's eyes widened at the strange, sudden assault of creeping dread, not knowing what to make of it any more than the others. "Stop it! I don't know what you're doing but stop it!" he demanded angrily, still glaring at Zero. But he caught sight of where Zero was looking and his gaze immediately transferred over to Kaname.

The 'mortally injured' brunette boy was leaning up on his arms, glaring at Sergio with a look that could only be described as feral. Broken body or no... if this pinhead touched Zero again, Kaname would tear his throat out. Actually... that sounded like a really delicious idea...

Sergio sucked his breath in sharply, his gun snapping back to his shoulder, muzzle pointed at Kaname. Shocked curses and exclamations sounded around him as a dozen other weapons were swiftly trained the same way. A number of the men were trembling, several crossed themselves, all expressions reflected shock.

And you could hardly blame them, because the fierce eyes staring at them from Kaname's pale face were a deep, glowing blood red, burning with unholy fire in the unnatural dimness caused by the stormy aura swirling around them.


	7. A Bloody Web

_A/N: FINALLY! An update! :D Sorry for the wait, but at least the chapter's good and long. Definitely have some vampire!action in there for those who have been waiting to see it! :D Unfortunately, I'm not about to let our boys off too easily just yet... but... –grins–_

_Please note, that like other chapters, this one has some very dark, bloody moments involving a lot of violence, at least at the beginning, so... you've been warned. _

_ALSO, please note that this story is definitely set in an alternate reality, fictional version of Brazil. I kind of screwed up on a lot of the details because I'd originally had this story set somewhere else, and didn't do enough research when I moved it to its current location. –bangs head on desks– So I want to be very clear that the Brazil in this story has __**nothing **__to do with the real one except for sharing its name. Also, any persons, places or things mentioned in this story that bear any resemblance to actual people, places or things either living or dead is honestly truly completely accidental and unintentional. This is purely fiction – please forgive my inaccuracies about the setting, I'd change it back to where I had it originally if it wasn't too late to do so. So please just bear with me. Thanks!_

_As always, individual review responses can be found in my forum – check my bio for more information._

**Chapter Seven: "A Bloody Web"**

Sergio cursed harshly, obviously frightened more than he wanted to show. These were no exchange students. They were something else entirely. Beasts for which he had no name. But it was not the first time he'd seen red eyes like that...

For half a moment time seemed frozen, then everything started happening very quickly. Zero heard the rapid clicks of numerous rifles being armed and he threw himself into a sideways roll, just in time to miss the spray of bullets that churned up the earth where he'd just been lying. His head swam at the rapid movement. He wasn't in good shape for this, but there wasn't an option anymore.

Moving was agony and Kaname's legs weren't about to hold him yet, but he didn't have time to worry about that. Firing on a purely primal instinct to survive, Kaname blasted those standing closest around them with a percussion wave, knocking them down and buying a few precious moments when no one was shooting at him, because evading wasn't something he could do really good just at the moment. The effort was almost too much for him but he couldn't afford to falter. He fell back farther upon the instinct coursing through him as his body trembled with unforgiveable weakness.

Rolling onto his back despite the fact that he felt like he was going to pass out, he reached out with an invisible hand and yanked the man closest to him to the ground, within his reach. Kaname rolled over him instantly, pinning the human with his body. The claws on one hand dug deeply into the hapless man's chest while Kaname jerked his victim's head to the side with the other. Blood welled from where his claws punctured clothing and flesh and Kaname's red eyes snapped darker at the scent, blood lust taking over. He needed too much... he was too injured. Even had he wanted to, he could never have controlled himself at this point.

Kaname growled, a low sound that reverberated in his chest and struck terror into the hearts of anyone who heard it, making even Zero's head momentarily jerk in his direction. The pureblood's fangs had fully extended and for a moment they showed clearly as his lips curled back in a snarl, revealing a gleaming array of razor teeth. Zero was surprised to catch a glimpse of more than the normal set of 

fangs he was used to seeing. It looked as if _all_ Kaname's teeth had turned to sharp, wicked points of ivory, upper and lower fangs glistening for an instant before the pureblood's head dropped back to his downed prey, and tore the man's throat out. Kaname wasn't just drinking his blood, he was _eating_ him. He had to. He didn't have much time and his body was too broken. If he did not feed his regenerative capabilities quickly, he was going to pass out from the effort he'd already exerted and he and Zero would both probably be killed for real.

Zero had never seen Kaname feed like that before and couldn't watch, but he didn't have time to anyway. Kaname's attack had actually taken less than a second with vampire speed, but some of those who had not been knocked down a moment ago were pressing forward, gun shots once more peppering the air. Zero had to dodge again, finding himself suddenly surrounded. He drop-kicked the nearest mercenary and twisted around as another man came at him from behind. Grabbing the barrel and stock of the man's weapon, Zero used it as a lever to whip him around and throw him into a nearby tree with crushing force.

The scent of blood was heavy in the air and Zero's own starving senses filled with it, triggering a harsh, inborn reaction that he'd not succumbed to in some time now. Much as he hated to fight like this, like a vampire... his body simply took over. The next man stupid enough to rush him got the harsh bite of fangs digging into his neck, the ex-human hungrily and rapidly sucking his blood. The man after that received the same.

The sharp bite of a bullet seared through Zero's thigh and he whipped around, instinctively dragging the man he was holding with him, and unintentionally using him as a shield as the next two shots hit the mercenary instead. Zero felt the man's body slammed back against him by the impact of the bullets as he slackened in the hunter's grip.

Kaname sprang away from his victim when bullets sliced swiftly through the air towards him. Still unable to stand, but strengthened by his recent meal, partial though it was, he threw himself at the nearest attacker, using his power to keep him upright as he took another down, and another... fangs and claws ripping, tearing, devouring. A number of the guerillas who could see what was happening simply panicked and fled in terror. But there were still many others there. The two wounded vampires were sorely out numbered.

Another bullet caught Zero in the arm. Complete evasion was impossible, there were too many attackers swarming them, too many bullets flying wildly despite the fact that they were even catching their own in the crossfire. Pain jerked Zero's head clear of his blood lust for a brief moment. He yanked the pistol from the belt of the man he was still holding and took rapid, precise aim at the sea of enemies churning around him. He emptied the clip in a matter of heartbeats, each bullet finding a home, although he was trying to disable rather than kill. Another bullet grazed his side. Zero dropped the dead man he was holding and rolled again, trying to evade fire. He'd drunk quite a bit by now, and with enough blood, he could take a couple bullets and be all right, but if he was hit too many times... it would slow him, and then it would kill him.

Kaname threw one of the men down onto the ground, but he suddenly smelled Zero's blood on the air – bright and distinct in his senses amid all the other scents. His gaze jerked away, swiftly seeking the hunter in a small moment of distraction. The man he'd just downed snatched a hold-out weapon from his boot and fired at Kaname in a blind panic. The pureblood snarled in pain, body jerking as two bullets found their mark, tearing through his shoulder and catching him in the stomach at point blank range. 

Pain blazed through him but he didn't fall. Instead he smiled darkly and his assailant's eyes widened in shock before they quickly glazed in death.

Kaname panted softly, gasping harshly in pain as he fed. Those bullets had done him no good and his senses were damped a little. Enough that he didn't quite react fast enough when another man jumped him from behind, landing a hard jab with the butt of his rifle to the small of Kaname's back. Kaname dropped to the earth with a cry of pain he couldn't help as agony shrieked through his senses. He'd fed enough to start some serious regeneration by now and his body was trying hard to heal on the fly, but he'd been so badly injured to start with that even his rapid healing was going to take time to make a difference. With the additional injuries and abuse he was taking, his body was barely getting a chance to even start trying. His back was still too raw and numbness flooded Kaname's lower body as his fragile, healing spinal injury was thrown in danger of being re-broken. Kaname just managed to twist enough that the next blow from the swinging rifle above landed on his side instead of his spine, pain still tearing viciously through him at the impact.

Zero's blood froze at the sound of Kaname's pained cry and he whirled in that direction, seeing what was happening. The fighting had separated them by quite a distance, Zero quickly changed course, trying to make his way towards Kaname. But he had no good cover where he was and his own position was quickly becoming untenable as the mercenary soldiers finally realized that getting close to these two was stupidly dangerous and started becoming content to pull back out of easy reach and let loose with rapid bursts of deadly crossfire.

_Where were all these people coming from? _Many had run away, and many lay dead or injured... but more attackers kept showing. Something wasn't right, there was more here than there'd been before. Zero could see now, more men running in from the trees off to their right, carrying weapons, drawn by the sound of the firefight. _Oh crap... this was not going well. _

An invisible fist grabbed the man attacking Kaname and lifted him off the ground, flinging him away viciously and sending him sailing all the way into the far tree line where his body struck a branch and crumpled to the earth like a rag doll.

Kaname rolled up to his knees, trying to gather himself, gripping the tree trunk beside him with one clawed hand in preparation for another attack... suddenly he sensed danger. He heard the soft whine of the bullet a second before it struck, but it wasn't enough warning, not in his current condition. A sharp pain lanced momentarily through him, hot and bright, and then there was darkness.

Zero, now a few yards away, felt a sickening jolt of horror as he saw Kaname's head jerk. A dark bloom of red blossomed across his temple. Like a puppet with the strings cut, Kaname slumped senseless to the ground, shot cleanly in the head.

Following the bullet's path to its source, Zero caught a glimpse of Sergio, who had been smart enough to fall back quickly and let his men do the fighting, but was now standing with rifle in hand a few dozen yards away. Zero's eyes flashed in raw anger, hatred and fear, but he resisted his instinctual urge to go after the man and tear him to pieces. That wouldn't help Kaname, and Zero feared that once down, the understandably zealous bandits would feel the need to pump him full of lead just to make sure he was really down for good. Unfortunately, that would not have been a wrong instinct on their part. It took a lot to kill a pureblood, but that would probably do the trick in Kaname's current condition. If... the pureblood hadn't already just been killed.

"Kaname!" Zero threw himself for his downed companion. He couldn't think about the danger to himself now, he was too scared. The only way to kill a pureblood was to crush their heart or their head. Zero didn't know if being shot in the head with a non-hunter weapon would be lethal for Kaname or not, but he was terrified of the answer. Kaname had already been so weak...

Some part of Zero already knew this fight was over, more men were continuing to arrive; he couldn't hold them all by himself. He dropped to a knee by Kaname's side, rolling him onto his back and feeling desperately for a pulse.

Zero's body jerked and sharp pain ignited like a hot fist squeezing his lungs and stealing away his breath. He heard the rapid crunch of footsteps approaching as he wavered, slumping, but still on his knees by Kaname's body. _I'm sorry. I failed... I wanted to protect you... _he thought silently, his gaze resting on Kaname's still face as blood trickled from the corner of Zero's mouth... and from the two bullet holes punched through his chest.

--

The hot, moist air made Yuki's shirt cling to her body as the vehicle she was riding in sped and bumped along trackless terrain without even the hint of a road. _Bumped _being the operative word there. Her neck, back and rear were sore from the constant jostling and her shoulders were painfully tight as she hung on through the bumping and jerking, but even so she still wished the vehicles could go faster.

They'd been traveling all day and had made good time. With any luck, they'd make the crash site by nightfall. Yuki knew that her vampire companions were going to be very glad to see the sun go down. If this place felt hot and overly sunny to her, she knew it would be a hundred times worse for them. Yet not even Aido was complaining, although he was sitting in the back of the vehicle next to her, holding his head like it was going to fall off and pressing an ice pack to his forehead.

Aido's skin was flushed from the heat and the sun. His wide-brimmed hat had slid to one side and Yuki saw Kain reach over and quietly push it back into place where it could most shield his younger cousin from the sunshine. Kain's skin was flushed too.

Yuki's body clock was telling her it was the middle of the night back home, but she supposed that at least the complete time zone reversal here was one small boon for the others.

Their small group was split up between three all-terrain vehicles, all of which were driven the 'commando vamps' as Yuki had silently dubbed the extraction team. Yuki, Aido and Kain were riding in one vehicle with several of the other team members. Another held the medical team and equipment, the third held Takuma, Seiren and the rest of the extraction team.

Suddenly the transports pulled to a stop and Yuki perked up, wondering what was happening now. She saw Takuma and Seiren approaching, having gotten out of their vehicle, and she took the chance to stiffly climb down out of hers as well, stretching sore, cramped legs and adjusting the hat she was wearing against the waning sunlight.

"If our coordinates for the crash site are right, it's just a few miles further ahead," Takuma said as he approached, dividing his gaze between Yuki and the two cousins who were still in the vehicle.

"The jungle's too dense for the cars," Seiren called over. "It's slowing us down. From here on in, we go on foot. Grab a pack, everybody."

Aido and Kain looked positively _thrilled _at the news but clambered down from the vehicle to join the others. The unspoken tension was rising amongst them all, because soon they hoped they would have some answers... whether or not they were the ones they wanted.

--

Zero choked softly on his own blood, a soft, sick, rasping sound rattling in his chest from his punctured lung. One hand clutched at the agonized, bleeding wounds, his other curling numbly around Kaname's still fingers. It was so stupid and pointless for them to die now, like this, after having struggled so long and hard for survival ever since the crash. It wasn't fair that his life was always so randomly cruel.

He might survive these wounds, he'd drunk enough blood just now to probably see him through... but he doubted he'd be given the chance. He heard the click of the weapons behind him, felt the hard shape of a rifle barrel pressed against the base of his skull and steeled himself for what would follow, fingers tightening where they were entwined with the pureblood's.

_God, Yuki, I'm so sorry... _

But the kill shot didn't come. An angry voice had started shouting somewhere nearby, it sounded like someone just arriving, demanding to know what had happened. Somebody important probably, judging by the commanding tone in his voice. Zero didn't have the strength to look up. Not falling over or drowning in his own blood was taking all of his effort.

A tall, dark haired man with fiery eyes and a authoritative air stalked across the field of carnage, looking in surprise and disgust at the number of bodies strewn around and the number of injured being carried or helped away by their comrades. He paused to peer a little closer at a couple of the bodies. Several looked as if they'd been attacked by some kind of animal.

His gaze zeroed in on Sergio, who was standing beside a small knot of his men who had surrounded two people that were on the ground and did not appear to be part of the group.

"Sergio! What the hell is going on here?! " the newcomer demanded as he stalked over to them. "We were waiting for you to arrive, suddenly there is gunfire. I send some of my men to check it out, and I get here to find half of them are dead! What is going on? Were you followed, you idiot? Did you bring the soldiers down upon us?!" he raged, absolutely furious.

"Ramon!" Sergio paled slightly at his boss' obvious anger. He quickly held up a hand for the man with the gun pressed against the back of Zero's head to wait. He'd much rather give Ramon someone else to vent his rage on if possible.

"No, no Ramon! We were not followed, the raid was a success!" _Mostly... _"It was these two! These two... devils!" he pointed towards Zero and Kaname. Both were practically bathed in blood, but they didn't make a very threatening picture now, one sprawled on the ground looking disturbingly dead, the other kneeling unsteadily nearby, looking like he would probably soon follow.

Ramon's skepticism was more than obvious and didn't even need to be voiced. Sergio saw it clearly and winced. He knew how this looked...

"No, no... I swear! It is the truth! They are not ordinary men, I tell you, they really are devils! _Beasts! _Just look! Look at what they did to my men! They ate them!" Ramon was close to babbling, obviously almost as afraid of Ramon as he had been of the change that had come over Kaname and Zero. "They said they were students with the convoy, we were bringing them back for ransom, but they are no students! They... they are like Salvaje, Ramon!" he said, his voice dropping a little, as one did when they were talking of something evil. "Only not so crazy at first. They seemed so... normal, and then it just happened. Their eyes were red and they had fangs like a... a wild cat!"

If Zero hadn't been in so much pain, he would have found the descriptions and the whole situation a little grimly amusing. Sure... who could have thought two injured people could have caused all this damage? He wasn't proud of what they'd done, but he refused to feel guilty either, especially with a good portion of his life bleeding out of him from the wounds they'd inflicted.

"Like... Salvaje?" Ramon repeated slowly, as if making sure he had heard that right. It fit with the animal style of killing, but... he hadn't realized there were more like him out there. Ramon's eyes narrowed as he looked at the silver haired boy wavering on his knees. You wouldn't know it looking at them. Sergio was right, they did look deceptively normal. He wondered if that meant they would have been more reasonable and useful... if Sergio hadn't screwed this up and killed them. Ramon's lips pressed into a hard line. Then again... maybe he was making assumptions he shouldn't. If they really _were_ like Salvaje...

Ramon crouched beside Zero, taking the wounded boy's chin in his hand and turning Zero's head towards him. He pulled Zero's mouth open just a little, enough to see the hint of fangs still present.

Zero would have jerked his head away, if he'd had the strength. But he could barely breathe. He felt like he was suffocating.

Ramon regarded him dispassionately. "How many of my men did you eat before you were shot, boy?" he said quietly, with contempt, but not really concern for the fallen. "Was it enough?"

Zero blinked, a little shocked that this man was asking that question, as if he understood what it meant. "I don't know... what you..." Zero tried to squeeze the words out, but Ramon tilted his chin back farther, tipping the hunter's head and making it harder for Zero to breathe. Zero's wavered as if he would fall and Ramon released him.

"You know what I mean," Ramon said calmly. "I have seen your kind shot to hell before, but as long as you feed on the flesh of others, you seem to be able to come back. So I ask you, do you have a chance, or should I put you down now?"

_Your kind? _Zero stared at Ramon in surprises. Did he know they were vampires? He certainly seemed to know they weren't human, but then again, that was pretty obvious.

Zero gave a small nod, indicating his probability of surviving. He could already feel the injuries slowly starting to mend themselves, although it was rough when it was something delicate like the lungs or other vital organs, because it was hard for the body to deal with using them and repairing them at the same time. It also hurt like hell. _Oh God... it hurt... _

"What about him?" Ramon jerked his head towards Kaname.

Zero gave a small, anguished pause. He didn't know. He really didn't know. He hadn't been able to find a pulse before, but unless his eyes were deceiving him, the pureblood's chest was still rising and falling ever so slightly. He didn't _know, _but he _hoped_... "Yeah," he rasped softly with another little nod. "Him too."

"Nothing is free out here, boy," Ramon said simply. "You killed a lot of my men. It would be in my rights to kill you both now. If I do not, then it is because I think you might be useful to us, might be able to help in our work. You understand?"

Zero gave a small nod. Really, what the hell choice did he have right at the moment? Agonized persperation stood out on his pale, flushed brow and ran into his eyes, making them sting. He wanted to pass out... to just stop hurting... but he couldn't afford that luxury right now.

"So maybe, when you are better, then we can come to an arrangement to suit us both, huh?" Ramon smiled coldly as Zero gave another slow, mute nod. Of course, he knew the boy would agree to pretty much anything that would keep him alive. The bandit leader didn't expect these two to help them very willingly after all this. But he _thought _he understood how to deal with these kinds of creatures - no matter how sadly mistaken that notion might be in reality.

Satisfied, Ramon rose to his feet. Sergio was right. This boy was different. He'd never been able to carry on a conversation that coherent with Salvaje. "We will bring them back to camp with us. Salvaje is becoming increasingly unreliable. Perhaps, with the right motivation, they may decide to... join our cause," he told the others, motioning for one of the nearby men to pick Kaname up. The others clearly weren't very happy about Ramon's desicion and most looked like they would rather have just shot the two _creatures _on the spot, but no one said anything. Zero got the feeling they were all too afraid of their leader to cross him.

Zero tried to rise, but he couldn't, breaking down into a coughing fit. Someone else dragged him up, hooking an arm around his waist to keep him there. The man was dour and wary, like he was holding a king cobra by the tail. Spots danced before Zero's eyes and he thought grimly that the man had little to worry about just at the moment. However... the concern was not entirely misplaced. Despite his injuries, Zero could feel life coursing through his veins more strongly than it had done in days. Ramon was right, he had drunk a lot of blood before he was shot, and that was helping.

"Oh, and Sergio..." Ramon's cool voice made Zero glance back in that direction as he was half carried, half dragged away. "I hope you realize you really made a mess of things."

Sergio looked deeply uneasy. "Si, si... I know... I am sorry, Ramon. I will not..." he never got a chance to finish. Ramon calmly pulled his pistol and shot the other man squarely between the eyes. Sergio's mouth was still open in shock as he slumped to the ground.

Several of the other men stared at Ramon uneasily, but again they said nothing, indicating that this was not entirely unprecedented behavior for him. It was no wonder that Sergio had been so wary of being late or otherwise crossing the man.

"Disappoint me again? No, you won't, Sergio," Ramon said coolly as he turned away. Ramon was human, but Zero saw a certain soullessness in his dark eyes that would have fit just fine on any vampire. Zero swallowed and looked away as he was carted off through the trees.

The trip to camp was a dark blur. Zero didn't know how far it was or how long it took to get there. By the time they finally reached it, however, Zero was actually starting to breathe a little easier and was able to help walk a little more, rather than just being dragged along. His chest wounds were still bleeding sluggishly, but his lungs seemed to have managed to start sealing themselves off. Zero wondered how many times in one's life you could push your body so near death and come out the other side all right. If you had a certain number of such close calls allotted to you, he and Kaname were using them up this week like they were going out of style.

_Kaname... _his gaze lingered on the dark head dangling against the back of the man ahead of them. Kaname was being carried over the man's shoulder, which Zero knew Kaname would have hated if he were awake. _Just please __**do **__wake up again... _he couldn't help thinking. At this point Zero couldn't take many more twists to this hellish adventure they'd been on the past few days.

The hunter was in for at least one more though, because as they entered the camp, his senses suddenly peeled a very familiar warning note.

"Look out!" he warned, instinctively shoving the man supporting him out of harms way as a swift moving dark figure darted by them. Zero's chest burned and ached, his healing wounds threatening to reopen as he clawed his way back to his feet, looking quickly around. Was this an unbelievable coincidence, or was _this_ why Ramon and Sergio had seemed to know something about vampires? Zero didn't know, but he did know one thing: there was a Level E vampire here, and it was making a beeline for the most delicious scent it had probably caught a whiff of in its entire life... Kaname, unconscious and covered in his own, pure blood.

Zero's stomach sank and his body protested, but he threw himself once more into action. At least this threat, he knew very well how to deal with, even if it was a pity he didn't have his gun with him.

In a swift, ruthless frenzy, the crazy vampire pounced on the man carrying Kaname, clawing him carelessly as an impediment to the incredible, intoxicating prize he was bent on obtaining.

The man bellowed and scrabbled away, yelling curses as he held his bleeding arm and neck. "Salvaje, you crazy son of a bitch! What the hell is wrong with you?!"

Salvaje rolled Kaname onto his back, jerking his head to the side as his mouth fell to the unresisting pureblood's neck. His fangs had just started to break the skin when hands gripped his arms, jerking back at him. _Fools... _none of the humans here were strong enough to stop him... Salvaje yelped in surprise as he found himself being hauled off of the pureblood with a strength that was _not_ human.

He whirled and found himself staring into the face of one of his own kind. Salvaje's red eyes danced and he laughed for no visible reason at all.

Zero was used to dealing with mad vampires by now. He could tell by looking into the man's face that Salvaje still had a good portion of his reason going for him, but he had already fallen to Level E and he was losing what remained of himself slowly but surely.

The hunter didn't wait for Salvaje to make the next move. He twisted the wrist he was holding and muttered a soft word under his breath, invoking an anti-vampire charm that brought the crazed ex-human crashing to his knees.

Several of Ramon's men had gained their position by now and they took over, grabbing Salvaje's arms and tugging him back to his feet. It didn't seem that they were entirely shocked to see the man lose it, but they definitely looked both wary and a little frightened. As well they should be. Zero didn't know what the hell they were thinking keeping him around like this. He just bet these idiots thought that Salvaje was some kind of creature, some wild cat that they could tame for their own uses. He remembered the reports of the guerilla led slaughter and the suspicion that there was a Level E running with them, adding significantly to the carnage. Looked like the reports had been correct. It was somewhat ironic that completely by chance Zero had actually ended up finding the quarry he had originally been sent down here to hunt.

Salvaje must still have enough sanity left for now that he realized he could get all the blood he wanted by sticking with these men, letting them think they were using him. But Zero knew that in reality he was using them, not only as a means of obtaining his victims, but also as a way to try and cover his tracks and stay under the hunter radar, although that had obviously failed. When Salvaje's loss of control and reason went far enough though, his 'allies' here would all be on the menu if they weren't careful.

Zero slid to his knees without realizing how he got there. _Oh._ _Air._ He needed air, that's right. Why wasn't he getting any? Zero sank forward, catching himself on one arm, while leaning protectively over Kaname's prone form, which was still sprawled on the ground where Salvaje had left him. Zero closed his eyes, willing his body not to shake, willing his healing lungs to keep slowly but surely drawing air.

Salvaje was dazed and docile from the hunter charm Zero had hit him with, and the men mistook that for his calming down and seeing reason, so they urged him away with them to settle somewhere else. Many would have felt better if this was an animal they could keep caged, but they'd learned the hard way that Salvaje was extremely uncooperative if they tried to impinge upon his freedom. They thought he was crazy in a mad dog / serial-killer / psychopath kind of way – a dangerous, yet very useful tool when it came to decimating their enemies in a fight. They had no real idea what they were really dealing with.

Ramon had watched this whole little drama unfold with curiosity. He'd clearly seen that Zero had been able to bring Salvaje to heel somehow, which was pretty much impossible when he was having one of his fits. _Interesting..._ he was glad they were keeping these two alive, for now. They were intriguing, these man-animals. He'd thought Salvaje was some kind of freak of nature. But apparently, he wasn't alone. Thoughts of possible genetic experimentation and secret 'super soldier' programs filtered through his mind. Salvaje seemed perfectly content to kill for them as long as they didn't care if he ate his victims. Ramon, rather foolishly from his limited expiriance, assumed that any of these creatures would be motivated by that same desire and perhaps, once these two new ones were healed, they would be interested in the same arrangement. Even if not though, he definitely wanted to know more about what they were and where they came from.

"Get them in the cage. Make sure they get some water and food. Bandages if they need them," Ramon ordered brusquely, nodding to where the silver haired one had now all but collapsed over the brunette's body.

The two vampires were dragged into a large, iron cage that looked like it might have once been intended for large game. It certainly smelled like animals had been kept in here. The metal floor was covered with straw and filth.

Zero's body was trying to shut down, telling him he wasn't going to heal if he kept stressing it like this. But he hung onto consciousness long enough to set a protective anti-vampire circle around he and Kaname once they had been locked inside the cage. Since they both were vampires, it would keep them trapped inside the circle, but since he could take it down at any time, that was no big deal. The important thing was that it would keep Salvaje away from them.

Pulling Kaname's back against him and holding him protectively close, Zero soon lost consciousness.

--

The sun had already set by the time Yuki, Takuma, Aido, Kain, Seiren and the rest of their party reached the crash site. Yuki, to her embarrassment, had had to be carried a good part of the way on Kain's back, as she was the only member of the party who couldn't hope to keep up when they went to vampire speed. Sometimes she wished she was a vampire. Sometimes she wanted... she wanted to ask Kaname... to... but no. Sharing her blood was the only thing she still couldn't do with him. She was no longer afraid, but... she couldn't do that to Zero. The hunter had come to accept a lot over the years, but seeing her become like him was one thing that she still didn't think he could take, and she didn't want to disrupt the careful, sometimes tenuous dynamic of the relationship the three of them held onto. It was too precious to her to see how close Kaname and Zero had become, she would not risk being the cause of a rift between them again.

Yuki slid down from Kain's back as the trees became thicker and the undergrowth more tangled and treacherous, forcing them to slow back to normal, more human speeds. As they approached what looked like a bomb crater, blasted in the forest, the vampires all covered their noses against the by now rotted and putrefying smell of death. It was quite strong enough that Yuki had to do the same. She gagged, eyes watering as they slowly circled the perimeter. Flies buzzed everywhere.

Stoically, the extraction team forged ahead into the torn up earth, quickly forming a search grid. The medical staff set down stakes to wait outside the field of death. They would be called if they were needed.

Takuma looked pretty green as he turned towards Yuki. "Yuki... there's no reason you have to go in there. Why don't you wait here with the med team? Aido will wait with you, right Aido?"

Aido looked like he wanted to throw up from the assault on his keen senses after the long, trying day in the heat and sun. Yuki got the feeling Takuma was trying to spare him too, even though Takuma looked rather like he might throw up himself.

Yuki just shook her head. As much as she wanted to take him up on that idea... she couldn't. She had to be part of this. Waiting around would kill her. "I can't, Takuma. I-I need to be doing something," she said softly.

Takuma ceded to her wishes and all of them fanned out to join the search. It was obvious that they weren't the first searchers here. Footsteps already crisscrossed the torn earth in places, and to a trained eye it looked a bit like they had been performing a search pattern very similar to the one now being carried out again.

A call from one of the extraction team brought the others hurrying over after about forty minutes of searching. The man was standing by the only intact thing they'd seen since they started searching. A ruined airline seat, looking odd and out of place as it lay twisted on its side on the ground.

"The belt was snapped from the seat... but I don't think it was by the impact," the man who had found it reported as the rest of the party drew near. Kain's eyes widened. "Just _one_ seat intact out of this whole wreck? There's no way that's an accident..." They all knew. It had to be intact because of who had been in it.

Yuki was standing frozen as she stared at it, torn between hope and grief. Because there was one chair. _One._

Aido shoved the other vampire out of the way, quickly kneeling down by the chair and sniffing it carefully, trying to separate any lingering trace of scent upon it from the overwhelming stench around them.

He lifted his head, his blue eyes shining in the moonlight. "I smell Kaname!" his voice was a little hoarse with relief. His gaze shifted to Yuki and he gave a faint, incredulous smile. "Yuki... I smell Zero too. I don't know what it means, but both their scents are all over this chair."

"There's a trail that goes off this way..." Takuma said, already following the scuffed lines in the earth.

"It looks like someone was dragging something... or someone," Seiren concurred as she joined him.

Yuki was still standing rooted in spot, Aido's words having struck a deep chord within her that caused hope to well almost painfully in her chest.

Kain had hurried ahead towards what looked like the end point of the trail while Takuma and Seiren investigated the meaning of the marks. "They were here!" he called over his shoulder. "Kaname and Zero, they've both left blood here, recently. And look..." as Takuma and Seiren rushed over, he pointed at two quart sized bags of water that were sitting off to one side. "From the amount of blood here, they must have been fairly injured, but somehow they got water from somewhere, so either someone helped them, or they were able to get it on their own."

Yuki's knees felt weak. She still hadn't moved. She felt like she didn't remember how to move. Kaname. Zero. They had both made it out of there. Injured, yes... but if they were bleeding, that meant they were alive, right? Alive... both of them... Tears clouded her vision, and she knew it was stupid, but she couldn't help it as a soft sob shook her shoulders.

Only now, did she really realize that she had been trying so hard to prepare herself for the worst. She covered her face in her hands, tears escaping between her fingers.

Aido wanted to run over to the others and see what they were discovering, but... he saw Yuki standing there crying. Quietly, went over and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. A few years ago, he'd thought she was annoying. Well, okay, sometimes she was _still_ annoying, but by now he'd gotten over most of his jealousy as far as she, Kiriyu and their relationship with Kaname were concerned. And she was... well, she was _crying_.

Yuki turned, unexpectedly burying her face against Aido's chest. Aido froze a bit awkwardly, uncertain... then hesitantly wrapped both arms around her in a comforting gesture.

"Sorry," she murmured after a moment, wiping her eyes on her palms and pulling back as she realized what she was doing and who she was holding onto. "I-I know it's stupid to cry _now_..."

Aido smiled and released her, but let one arm remain lightly around her shoulders. "Sure it is," he agreed _helpfully_ with a faint glint of his usual arrogant teasing in his tone. "But I won't tell if you won't. Come on; let's go see what the others found."

Yuki tried to scowl at him for agreeing with her about being stupid, but it turned into a tremulous grin instead and she gave the hand resting on her shoulder a little squeeze as they headed towards the snarl of trees near the edge of the crash site.

"They were here not that long ago, but there's a lot of tracks and other scents... they left with a pretty large group of people," Seiren was saying when Yuki and Aido joined the others.

"Rescue workers, maybe?" Takuma pondered aloud. "Somebody's been searching this area ahead of us, you could see that."

"I hope so," Kain agreed. "But that doesn't exactly tell us where they are _now_, although I suppose we can try to follow the trail... or should we be checking hospitals? I mean, we know they were hurt and if someone found survivors from a wreck like that, they'd be pretty likely to take them to the hospital, right?

"We'd probably better do both," Takuma replied, but before they could discuss it any further, Seiren was hailed by one of the commandos via radio. She took the call and then turned back to the others.

"Seems some of our men ran into another search party camped out on the other side of the zone. Maybe they know what happened."

The small group followed the directions given and found the search party camp, strategically located upwind of the crash site so that the stench here was much tolerable. Save for those who had been on guard duty, the platoon of soldiers had obviously been wakened from sleep, but all of them were now up and milling about, a fire was burning, the scent of coffee in the air.

Commander Valdez was waiting with the two members of the extraction team who had come upon the camp a little while earlier. Valdez and his men had followed their orders earlier and thoroughly searched the area for survivors. There hadn't been any, but there were some unexplained oddities that made him uneasy. He had opted to spend the night and widen their search in the morning. The arrival of this foreign search team however, added a whole new wrinkle to this affair and he was beginning to think he might not have gotten stuck with as boring and useless an assignment that he had thought.

Takuma greeted Valdez politely, aware that they were the outsiders in this country and not wanting to cause any unpleasantness if it could be avoided. The man was obviously local military.

"You are also searching this crash site?" Takuma inquired, having already gotten that much from the extraction team.

"Si," Valdez replied. "We are part of the official investigation into the crash and the searching for survivors." Part of the truth, anyway. "And you? Pardon my rudeness, but what are you doing here? This area is off limits until the crash has been dealt with, you understand," he said reasonably.

"Please pardon our intrusion, we won't disturb anything," Takuma dismissed the concern as a formality. "Perhaps we can help one another. We are also searching for survivors. Do you know where the two that would have been found over in that area, were taken?" he inquired, gesturing back the way they'd come.

Valdez's eyes narrowed ever so slightly. _Survivors? Two of them? Why did they think there were survivors over there? But then, that was where the chair, and those other signs of life had been... it was impossible, wasn't it? Maybe not... _

"No, I'm afraid we found no one there. We arrived here this morning and found nothing. But if there were survivors as you say, perhaps they have gone deeper into the jungle? Or perhaps someone from the nearby villages has found them and taken them home. Come first light, we can start to canvas the nearest settlements," he suggested.

Takuma appreciated the helpfulness, but he couldn't ignore a funny little nagging in the pit of his stomach either, although he did not know its source. "Thank you, that's a good idea. We will let each other know if we find anything, all right?" he offered amicably, starting to end the conversation. With any luck, they'd already have found what they sought by the time these men started searching in the morning.

"Not so fast, mi amigo..." Valdez said with polite, but firm warning. "I told you, you are in an area of official investigation. I cannot let you go roaming around out here alone, or without escort. Times are unsettled right now, it is not safe."

"Your concern is touching, but we'll be fine, thanks," Kain spoke up coolly, not liking where this was going.

"All the same, I must insist," Valdez did not back down and the other men in the camp behind him were starting to tense slightly at the tone the conversation was taking.

"I appreciate your concern and your position," Takuma said, forcing diplomacy when he really wanted to tell them to quit wasting his time. "But those people we're looking for are our friends, and we have reason to believe they may have been seriously injured. They might not _have _time to wait. My party is equipped for night searching, and we _are _going to find them. I promise we will keep you apprised of what we find and will not get in the way of any ongoing investigation..." he was reasonable but firm. Takuma would rather avoid an incident here, but no one was going to get in their way.

Valdez seemed to sense his determination. At this juncture, he wasn't sure how many of the other foreigners were out there, or how well they might be armed. He hadn't been in his profession as long as 

he had without learning how to look at a situation from many different angles. If there _were_ survivors out there, perhaps these people were their ticket to locating them.

"I understand your worry for your friends. _You_ must understand I do not wish to hamper you, but I have my orders too. If you feel you must press on tonight, then I and my men will escort you, to see that you come to no harm and that our own investigation and recovery efforts are not compromised." Valdez smiled, acting as if he was offering a very generous compromise, but it wasn't really an _offer_ and Takuma knew it. If they refused, things were going to go badly, and Valdez had a fairly decent amount of men at his command. Local politics could be a real pain.

Takuma knew that if they had to, he and the others could detain this party by force, but that could get messy and people would probably be killed, no matter how hard they tried to avoid it. Without suitable provocation that wasn't acceptable. As far as he knew, these people were on their side and were just doing their jobs. If they intended to follow the trail they had found, they would have to keep to human speeds so as not to miss anything along the way anyway. So long as these men weren't trying to stop them, then there was no reason not to take them, despite his reluctance.

"But of course, we welcome your help," Takuma said simply, swallowing the unease he felt.


	8. Hold Me Together

_A/N: Okay, finally another chapter. :D It's not a big deal, but please note that I'm now going with the Anime on having Kain's power be fire. Actually, I originally thought the same thing but was afraid that having the cousins be "Fire and Ice" would be a little too cliched. So glad it wasn't! ;D See the notes in my bio section for info about review responses. Thanks everyone for your patience!!_

**Chapter Eight: "Hold Me Together"**

Zero woke slowly when he felt a stirring against him. His sense of time had totally been compromised by now, but it was dark, possibly late at night or early in the morning. It was hard to tell because the sky was overcast and there was no glimpse of the moon or stars to help judge the passage of the night. Zero's keen hearing told him that most of the camp was sleeping, but there were enough sounds of movement here and there to tell that there were plenty of guards about. One hand slid instinctively to his chest, but he already knew, even before his fingers found only torn fabric and smooth skin that his wounds had closed and disappeared while he slept. He still didn't feel great, but he felt much better. Despite his critically injured state, he'd ingested a lot of blood earlier and his system seemed to finally be catching up to its more normal regenerative condition.

The hunter pushed up onto his elbow, looking down towards the body curled beside his. He could only hope that the same would be true for Kaname. He could hear the reassuring sound of the other's steady heartbeat and had felt him move a moment ago, so at least Zero was no longer afraid for the pureblood's life.

Kaname was curled against him, face partially buried against Zero's side and the first thing Zero saw was the pureblood's back. What was left of his shirt had pretty much disintegrated or been torn off during the fight, so his upper body was mostly naked. Although streaked and caked with dried blood, both his own and others... Zero felt a deep swell of relief inside him when he saw that the raw mess that had been Kaname's back for so long had finally given way to normal flesh and bone once more. The new skin still looked somewhat vulnerable and tender, but it was a sure sign that Kaname too, had fed enough to give his body the jump it needed to start returning to normal.

A small, unbidden shudder ran through Zero. _Fed... _yes, Kaname had fed all right, and the image of that wasn't going to be able to be exorcised from Zero's mind anytime soon. Zero had seen vampires on a rampage before. In his line of work; he'd seen it fairly often. But those were usually mad ex-humans. It was disturbing to see them act like that, like beasts, but what he had seen earlier was different. Kaname wasn't insane, and his actions had held none of that kind of crazed intensity. There had been a terrible sort of natural grace to his actions, as if he had merely been revealing a deeper, primal side of himself that Zero had never seen surface before. Kaname hadn't even looked human with his eyes burning and his lips pulled back to reveal the rows of razor sharp fangs glittering in his mouth.

Zero swallowed softly. The truth was Kaname _wasn't_ human. Zero wasn't really either anymore, but he had been, it was still a part of his transformed biology. More than any other level of vampire however, purebloods retained the essence of their true species. Zero knew that, he'd always known that. Vampires wore human skin simply to blend better with their prey. But it had been a while since he'd had had to face that the sensual lover who drove him crazy and the caring friend who had taken grievous injury and shielded Zero with his own body in order to keep the hunter alive, was from a race of predators that viewed humans like cattle.

Zero's fingers stroked gently through Kaname's tangled hair, thumb ghosting over the now unmarred skin where the entry wound from the bullet to the head he'd taken had been a few hours before. Yes... Zero couldn't pretend there wasn't still a part of him that pulled away from that thought, that cringed at 

the foreignness of knowing that the lips which kissed him so tenderly and the fangs that pleasured him so deeply could so very easily tear him apart and devour his flesh if Kaname so chose. But Kaname _didn't_ so choose, and that was the crux of the matter, wasn't it? The pureblood normally acted more 'human' than most vampires did. Zero knew it was for he and Yuki that Kaname all but denied his heritage when they were together. He had come to realize how much that meant Kaname treasured them.

Zero treasured Kaname too. Yuki and Kaname comprised his world, his family, his heart. But sometimes... sometimes Zero couldn't forget what Kaname was, couldn't help worrying when he saw the pureblood kissing Yuki's neck. He wasn't sure if he was more worried that Kaname would lose control in a moment of passion and bite her, or that Yuki would decide she _wanted_ him to. He knew she'd at least thought about it. Hell, she had thought about being a vampire since they were kids. He told himself it was only protectiveness he felt, not any hint of jealousy or possessiveness... but maybe there was a little of that too. Was it because he didn't want anyone else drinking Yuki's blood like he did? Or was it because he didn't want Kaname drinking anyone's blood other than his? A confusing quandary and maybe in truth it was a bit of both. It wasn't like it was always easy for any of them to keep their tangled relationships straight. But all things worth having were worth fighting for, and Zero couldn't imagine ever losing either of the people he loved.

In this small moment of peace though... the faces of the dead, of the humans both he and Kaname had killed today came back to haunt Zero silently. He supposed it had rattled him more than he wanted to admit, seeing Kaname like that earlier. His current, rambling line of disturbed thoughts was proof of that. But his own actions disturbed him too. Kaname wasn't the only one who had bathed himself in blood out there today. Zero was a hunter, death was his job, and he was a vampire, killing was a natural instinct. But neither made it any easier. Neither ever made it feel right. It had been a battle for survival. Zero knew he'd do it again if he had to, but... that didn't mean it wasn't going to haunt him for a while. More ghosts to add to the collection that sometimes kept him from sleeping when he was alone.

Kaname shifted against him with a soft, groggy little groan, pulling Zero from his troubling thoughts. The hunter leaned back a bit, hand lightly cupping the pureblood's cheek. His thumb unintentionally stroked the soft, bloodstained skin. Zero realized with a small start of concern that Kaname's eyes were open, but unfocused. The brown orbs stared somewhat vacantly _through _Zero, which sent a new spike of alarm through the ex-human's chest.

"Kaname?" he murmured softly. "Kaname!"

Kaname's eyes moved as if with difficulty, hazily almost-focusing on the hunter. "Zer...o..." the words were soft, slurred, and Zero's worry increased. Physically, Kaname looked better than he had in days. But the vacancy in his eyes was scaring the crap out of the hunter.

Kaname's hand fumbled clumsily for Zero, tangling in the front of the torn and soiled shirt he was still mostly wearing and hanging on tightly. Kaname blinked slowly. Thinking and forming words seemed to be taking a monumental effort. "Head... hurts..." he mumbled softly. Only one side of his mouth was moving.

Kaname stared, sluggishly transfixed. There were things crawling all over Zero... they looked like lizards with butterfly wings. One ran right over Kaname's hand, but he didn't feel it. Some part of his mind knew they weren't real, but he didn't understand what was happening. Nauseating flashes of light popped in his vision. The pureblood groaned softly again, nearly a whimper, and closed his eyes. "Make it stop..." he slurred in a soft, anguished, almost child-like plea.

Pain lanced Zero's heart at the softly plaintive sound, so very, very unlike his normally controlled lover. He cradled Kaname's head carefully; shifting it first left and then right to get a better look at him, trying to see if there were still any visible signs of injury and attempting to contain his growing horror.

The skin of Kaname's previously injured temple was now smooth, flawless as ever under the grime, but Zero's memory flashed back to when he'd dropped beside him on the ground earlier – the ugly hole showing jagged white bone and dark blood that splattered around the wound... but there had been only one injury, hadn't there? The shot had not been a through and through, there was no exit wound. Only now did Zero actually comprehend that that probably meant the bullet or bullet fragments were still lodged in Kaname's brain. That explained why the pureblood looked like he'd had a stroke.

Kaname's body had healed itself around the foreign objects, encapsulating the twisted fragments of metal and repairing the damage they had caused. But there was no way for his body to expel them, and his mind was having to adjust and compensate, attempting to build new neural pathways to replace the severed ones, other parts of his brain trying to compensate for those areas that had been rendered unusable. The result was that Kaname's senses were all firing wildly out of whack and he felt like he was going crazy, unable to trust the input he _thought _he was receiving. The worst part was that he was just aware of reality enough to know that something was very wrong.

Zero could hear Kaname's breath quickening in quiet panic as his friend obviously began to perceive that all was not as it should be.

"Zero... what's wrr...rong with me?" Kaname struggled with the words, managing to keep the raw fear in his voice at least somewhat contained, which was no small feat given his current mental state.

Zero didn't know how to answer. He didn't really _know_ the answer, although he had some guesses. "You were shot in the head, Kaname, I think you're still trying to heal, that's all. Just give it a little more time. Shh..." he soothed softly, with much more confidence than he felt.

Slowly, Zero sat up, wincing at the uncomfortable tug of pain in his chest at the movement. His fingers stroked lightly through Kaname's hair again as he looked the other vampire over. Outwardly, Kaname didn't appear injured anywhere anymore. But inwardly was obviously another story. Zero knew the dull throb in his own chest meant he was in a similar state, although the pain wasn't sharp enough to cause any concern in him right now.

Zero saw that water and food had been placed in the cage with them at some point and reached for the jug of water. He took a few deep swallows, realizing now that he was thirsty, and then carefully lifted Kaname a little and tipped it to the pureblood's lips, helping him drink some. Kaname tried to hold the jug, but his normally quick and skilled hands were clumsy and without strength, so Zero curled his fingers over Kaname's, helping him steady the vessel.

The hunter couldn't help a hot, helpless stab of rage and anger, although he couldn't figure out entirely where to direct it. _It wasn't fair! Why couldn't they catch a break? _Kaname had been badly hurt for what seemed so long now. The plane crash had left him so broken, and just when he was finally recovering from that, now _this_. Zero hated to see the pureblood going through all this hell, it tore him up. His own emotional reserves were running on empty and he just wanted to scream at the universe for being so colossally cruel to them. Darkly, he could almost wonder if this was somehow their punishment for defying the laws of nature and surviving the plane crash in which they should have perished. Fortunately, Zero believed that _fate_ was what you made it, but still... there was a worn, raw feeling of desperation that had settled on the hunter's heart. He didn't know how many close calls he and Kaname had left in them anymore. He couldn't admit it, because he had to be strong for Kaname, but he was afraid, angry and utterly wearing out.

A faint whisper of sound nearby made the hunter's spine stiffen slightly. Automatically, he checked that he and Kaname were still inside the anti-vampire circle he'd drawn on the filthy floor of the cage around them. Of course, they could hardly have accidentally left it, but it was an instinctive reaction.

Red eyes glowed in the darkness outside the bars of their small prison. Salvaje was back. Or maybe he'd never been very far away. The ex-human peered at them silently with intent, hungry eyes, drawn by the scent of Kaname's blood, held captive by his own increasing hunger as surely as Zero and Kaname were being held captive in the cage.

Slowly and deliberately, the Level E circled the cage, reaching experimentally through the bars like a tiger testing out how to get at its prey. Obviously, he was thus far restraining himself from tearing through the bars to try to get at them, but Zero could tell from the other's face and mannerisms that that control wouldn't last forever. Zero knew from experience that these were the most dangerous E's. When they still retained just enough of their sanity to make them clever and dangerous, but were on the threshold of losing all their restraint.

Kaname mumbled something incoherent, his face creased in pain. Carefully, Zero slid an arm under the pureblood's shoulders and pulled him up, letting the other vampire lean against him and holding him protectively close as his wary gaze tracked Salvaje.

Salvaje's red gaze followed Kaname silently.

"I'll kill you if you try to touch him," Zero warned softly, stating a fact, not making a threat.

"You'll kill me anyway, _hunter,_" Salvaje returned, his voice low and reverberating slightly with the eerie, double-tone quality sometimes possessed by those in the final stages of the fall. He knew what Zero was because of the charm he'd used on him earlier, a mistake Salvaje did not intend to repeat. "Or you'll _try._ Even though, you are like me. How pathetic, you should defend the one who stole your life. But then, that's always our fate, no? Unless we break free..." his eyes flashed. He grinned, chuckling unpleasantly and revealing white fangs. "But then you call us mad and hunt us down."

Zero was used to having his own ex-human status thrown at him and did not outwardly react, although his jaw tensed silently and his grip on Kaname tightened just a bit. Kaname wasn't the one who had turned him, although it was a commonly made misassumption. But he wasn't about to go into all that with Salvaje, instead, his gaze simply locked with the other ex-human's.

"I hate whatever bastard who did this to you, but it doesn't excuse all the innocent lives you've taken or will take as you lose yourself. You _are _mad, Salvaje, and deep down you know it. You can feel everything that is really you slipping away... it's not _living _at all anymore at that point, trust me..." Zero's eyes were haunted. He knew. He'd almost been there.

For a brief moment, there was an answering flash of pain and despair in Salveje's expression, a single solitary glimpse of the soul that knew Zero was right and wanted to escape, but then it was gone and the beast snarled darkly. His claws extended and he ran them slowly across the bars of the cage, scoring the metal deeply and creating a soft but nerve-grating sound.

Kaname shuddered, the sound jarring his jumbled senses. His fingers knotted in the front of Zero's shirt again as he sat, slumped sideways against the hunter's chest, Zero's arms supporting him and keeping him close. The pureblood's eyes were open, but they were half-lidded and glassy, betraying the fact that he wasn't all the way there. Kaname was aware enough to be in pain, but not aware enough to really understand what was happening around him and he only partially heard Zero and Salvaje's conversation.

"Zero..." it was a faint, lost whisper. Salvaje froze at the sound of Kaname's voice, red eyes narrowing as he gazed hungrily at the two prisoners huddled in the center of the cage.

Zero squeezed Kaname's shoulder gently. "I'm here, Kaname," he murmured, his silver gaze still warily tracking the 'E circling their cage. The half-crazy vampire licked his lips with a small shuddering inhale that Zero recognized all too well.

In a way, Kaname had been right once, long ago, when he said that perhaps Zero sympathized with the plight of the Level E vampires. It had made Zero incredibly angry at the time, but even if he did not exactly sympathize, he at least understood them, much better than any other hunter ever would. Looking into Salvaje's eyes, Zero knew he was seeing a reflection of where he would probably already be if not for Kaname's continued intervention. This man may or may not have been a good person once, but it didn't matter now. Salvaje's humanity was gone; he'd already all but lost himself to the madness of insatiable blood lust.

Zero may feel sorry for Salvaje, but he knew better than to let that interfere with his judgment. There was no saving vampires once they fell this far, no cure that could reach them. The only mercy you could truly show them was to put them out of their misery and ease the torment of the broken soul that could no longer control its body. Zero would want someone to do the same to him if it ever came down to that point. He had actually come down here in the first place to put this Level E down, and he would not hesitate to do whatever he needed to in order to keep Kaname safe.

Kaname shivered, whimpering weakly through his teeth, fingers twisting feverishly in the front of Zero's shirt as if he could pull the hunter closer, or as if Zero could hide him from the phantom agony in his head and the twisted, unreal hallucinations dancing around him. The hallucinations played like nightmares on his deepest fears and hurts. _He was surrounded by blood. Yuki was there... Yuki was dead. Zero was dead. Their throats were ripped out. He'd killed them._ _His fault. _

"No, no, no, no..." the soft, desperate little half-sobs were repeated like a mantra as Kaname rocked agitatedly against Zero, his body shaking. His skin itched like he was covered in bugs. His fingers slid free of Zero's shirt and Kaname scratched his own arm feverishly, almost drawing blood.

Zero held the pureblood tighter, trying to still his agitated movements and catching hold of his wrists to keep him from hurting himself. He rocked Kaname gently back and forth, murmuring soft, formless words of comfort, heart unbearably tight as he looked down at the pureblood's pained face and his vulnerable form. His actions seemed to calm Kaname a little and the pureblood pressed the side of his face harder against Zero's chest as if to assure himself the hunter was real. Even though Zero was still gently but firmly restraining his wrists, an action that in this muddled state would normally trigger a response to fight, the pureblood relaxed against the hunter in a gesture of pure trust.

Kaname's completely open dependency on him stirred something deep inside Zero and his throat swelled closed a bit. Harkening back to his thoughts a few minutes ago, the hunter couldn't help thinking briefly that in the end maybe it didn't matter so terribly much that this man who had captured his heart was from a different race. What was race? Where and how did you start drawing the lines of separation at species, creed or color? The pureblood had a heart and a soul just like he did, didn't he? And Kaname had been through far too much recently. Every fiber of Zero's being ached only to protect him, to try and shield him from any more pain. The resolve that came with that desire replaced the ragged hopelessness and echoes of guilt tugging at Zero's psyche, lending him strength.

Until today, the young hunter had not intentionally taken life other than those of insane vampires, but in this moment, Zero knew in his heart that he was willing to kill for Kaname. It was not a realization he took lightly, but if given no other choice, he _would_ dispatch anyone who kept him from getting the pureblood out of this safely, no matter the cost to his own soul. Kaname was trusting, depending on him, and Zero would do anything for him.

As if sensing Zero's thoughts, although he was in reality responding to seeing a pureblood vampire in such a weak state, Salvaje gave a cruel, hard little laugh.

--

"There was a fight here," Valdez observed as he and his men panned flashlights across trees bearing bullet scars and ground that had been trampled by many feet and stained by blood.

It was a sharp observation for a human when working in the dark like this, but of course the small company of vampires that Valdez and his men were tagging along with didn't need to be told. They'd smelled the blood long before they reached this clearing, and for them the scene of the fight was as easy to see as it would be in daylight, even though the light of the stars and moon had been obscured by gathering storm clouds several hours ago.

Aido tried not to be irritated as the humans' flashlights kept cutting across the landscape and making him have to blink to keep adjusting his eyes.

"I smell Kaname's blood here, and Zero's," the blonde murmured to his cousin as they surveyed the area, but that too was hardly necessary. Kain, Takuma and Seiren all knew those scents well enough to be picking them up just fine on their own, causing a thick layer of tension and concern that was almost palpable.

There were no bodies, but the scent of multiple blood donors was so strong here, it was impossible that no one had died, so the bodies must have been removed. The blood wasn't fresh, but it wasn't too old either.

"I know," Kain murmured back. Both cousins kept their voices low, however, to avoid Yuki hearing them.

Yuki was standing quietly on the outskirts of the clearing with the members of the medical team. She was exhausted, it was too dark for her to be much good, and she knew to simply stay out of the others' way at this point. She rubbed her arms, folding them across her chest. She was a little chilled by the cool breeze being stirred up by the gathering storm overhead, but mostly she was trying to stave off the leaden sleepiness that was aching behind her eyes, making her stomach feel thick and her eyelids heavy. She knew everyone else had been up more or less as long as she had, however, and tried hard not to let her weariness show.

The searchers had been following the trail left by Ramon's group for hours, keeping a rapid pace, the unerring skill of vampire trackers never once losing the trail in the darkness, much to the cautious surprise of Valdez and his men. The night was starting to wane now and it was bringing an increased urgency to everyone in the vampire party. But the discovery of this stretch of blood soaked earth had tensions ratcheted up to new dimensions.

Had the fight been centered around Kaname and Zero? Or had they been incidental to it? Takuma saw Valdez puzzling over what looked like claw marks on one of the bullet-pocked tree trunks. The soldier was obviously trying to figure out what kind of animal left a mark like that.

Takuma frowned as he looked away across the still, silent landscape. He didn't wonder, he knew. Those marks were made by vampire talons. Unless there were more vampires about, which he doubted, that meant that either Kaname or Zero, or both, had vamped out at some point during the fight here. The fact that they would have revealed themselves while in a group of humans like that worried him. _Damn it... what happened here? _

Seiren appeared silently at his side, having just been conferring with the extraction team. "I don't like this," she said quietly, her keen eyes darting around the clearing. "I don't like the way it reads. I'm not so sure Kaname-sama and Zero-san were with these people of their own volition," she murmured, referring to whomever the mysterious group was that they had been tracking for the better part of the night.

Takuma nodded slowly, he was starting to fear the same. "The trail continues on?" He inquired, anxious to continue.

"Yes," Seiren confirmed. "But there are a number of trails converging on and leading away from this area. I've got people checking it out to try and make sense of the comings and goings. It looks like one party met another here. I don't know if that was the cause of the fight or the result of it."

"We should move away from here while they check it out," Takuma suggested. The strong scent of blood everywhere was not doing any of the vampires any favors and it was blotting out their ability to smell anything else from the surrounding jungle.

Seiren had started to nod in agreement when the radio she wore over her ear crackled with an urgent report from one of her scouts. Her face tensed and she just had time to turn and shout out to the others. "Fall back! Get to cover!"

Gunfire erupted from the trees on the far side of the clearing. Ramon kept his camps well protected from surprise attacks, circling them in ring after ring of perimeter guards and sentries, spaced out for miles and miles. The outermost ring had been alerted to the presence of the newcomers, and upon seeing that not only were they kitted out for some kind of covert operation, but they had a large contingent of the local military with them, the perimeter guard immediately assessed them to be a threat.

Seiren grabbed Takuma and pushed him down as the gunfire cut over their heads. They both moved swiftly, falling back with vampire speed to better defensible positions. Seiren whipped a sniper weapon from her back and snugged it to her shoulder. This was such a crude, ungraceful form of fighting really, but one had to be prepared for everything. She fixed the crosshairs on the far tree line, easily picking out a target without really needing the magnification provided by the scope. After the first moment of surprise, she knew she didn't have to worry about Takuma again; he was quite capable of taking care of himself. It was the humans with them they were going to have to worry about.

Valdez and his men responded slower to the warnings, but executed their own swift rush for cover with trained efficiency, already returning fire into the trees as they retreated.

The instant the trouble started, Kain and Aido quickly appeared by Yuki's side, hustling her and the medical team towards the thickets where Takuma, Seiren and Valdez's men had taken cover. The members of the extraction team, spread out following the different trails, were swiftly making their way back to defend the others and the soft crack of sniper rifles whined along with the automatic fire.

The medics with them weren't fighters though and Seiren wasn't so sure about Yuki, Kain and Aido either. She looked back over her shoulder as they joined them. "Keep back and keep down," she warned them, although that's what they were already doing.

Kain and Aido held their self-appointed places at Yuki's side, looking slightly vexed that they couldn't do more, but at the same point knowing they needed to protect Kaname's beloved with their lives. At this stage, there wasn't much they could have done anyway. Takuma was in more or less the same position. He wasn't carrying a firearm, he normally didn't need to. In their own right, each of the vampire nobles was capable of being a deadly weapon just by themselves. But for the most part, their skills were more useful in close combat rather than at a distance. The real impediment at the moment though, was the presence of Valdez's platoon. They could not use their powers in a mixed group like this without giving themselves away and the situation wasn't quite desperate enough yet to warrant it anyway. Frustrating as it was, they had to wait and let this conflict play out via more human methods for the moment.

--

A sudden hustle of movement from elsewhere within the camp dragged Zero's attention away from Salvaje and Kaname. Shouts were quickly being raised and it sounded like everyone was being roused from their sleep. The abrupt, uncertain charge of tension that had filled the air was almost palpable, and even Salvaje seemed to feel it, his attention wavering a little.

Men were running here and there. The rumble of jeep and truck motors being started mixed with the clamor of many voices speaking at once. The smell of vehicle exhaust and human agitation swirled around the camp. Something had happened or was happening, and Zero frowned, trying to sort through the rumbling murmur of voices and discern what was going on. The fact that he didn't know the language most of them were speaking, however, was not helpful. From what little he could gather, it soon became apparent that an alarm had been raised and the camp was evacuating for some reason.

The change in atmosphere made Kaname tense again as he rested against Zero, the new influx of sounds, smells and sensations difficult for his healing mind to sort out. He closed his eyes, cutting off at least one sense. He breathed tensely through his teeth. He might have been imagining it, but he could almost think he heard the faintest echo of gunfire in the distance, just audible to his sensitive hearing. He couldn't be sure of anything right now, however, and even if it was real, it was very far away.

Presently, Ramon and a number of other men paused by the cage. Ramon looked like he'd been recently woken and was out of sorts. One of the other men posed a question that Zero didn't understand, but seemed to carry the gist of _"what about them?"_

"Load them into one of the trucks. Keep a close eye on them. If they try anything, kill them," Ramon replied in a language Zero could understand, obviously for the benefit of the captives. If the army had found their position as the first panicked reports seemed to indicate, then they had no time for games. "Take Salvaje with you too. If there's any trouble, let him have them," the guerilla leader added rapidly but coolly, as if he were doling out rations. He'd already seen that the silver haired one was a match for Salvaje, but given the combination of Salvaje and the guards he wasn't as worried as he should have been.

Salvaje grinned wickedly and Ramon quickly moved on, having more important matters to worry about. He didn't stop to really look at the captives in the dark, or see past the grime and bloodstains to realize that they were no longer as critically injured as they had been when they entered the cage hours before.

As the cage was unlocked, Zero quickly released the anti-vampire circle he'd set around he and Kaname, smudging the lines with his foot. The two vampires were dragged roughly out of the cage. Kaname was uncharacteristically lagging a few steps behind what was happening as rough hands jerked him away from Zero. The loss of familiar contact plunged him into a dizzying array of sensations, sights and sounds as he was dragged forward, stumbling and limping unevenly. There was a strange pain in his left calf, or at least, he thought it was pain. He didn't know, it was all a jumble of unqualified sensation. Loud voices were talking, pounding in his head like razors, words fragmenting into gibberish. He couldn't hear Zero's heartbeat anymore. There were too many sounds, too much input. Where was he? _Where was he?! _

Zero protested harshly as Kaname was pulled away from him and they were both dragged towards different waiting trucks. He was terrified to realize that they were going to be separated. Kaname was stumbling and blinking like a drunk, the lost, confused, almost frightened look on his face clearly saying he had no idea what was happening and was in no condition to protect himself.

There was the vague outline of a truck ahead. The headlights snapped on and Kaname's hands flew up in front of his face, the pain of the sudden light on his optic nerves blinding him. He stumbled, his breath quickening, heart racing as the unknown hands holding his arms tightened, rough and brusque as they kept him from falling, forcing him forwards. Kaname started to thrash, pulling away from the men holding him with strength that surprised them.

Zero's heart leapt into his throat. They couldn't afford to start anything again, not with Kaname in this extremely vulnerable condition and the whole camp already on alert. Their last battle had been disastrous; they wouldn't survive another without a much better strategy on their side. He forced himself not to simply yank away from his captors, knowing that would only exacerbate matters.

"Kaname!" he tried to get the dazed pureblood's attention. Kaname looked like he was starting to freak out, and if he unwittingly started using his powers, or showing his teeth, Zero knew these men would put him down for good. "Kaname, calm down, it's okay. Please, it'll be okay!" he tried to soothe as he was jostled roughly forward.

Kaname heard Zero's voice and recognized it, he tried to go towards the sound, but the hated hands were there again, tugging at him, voices shouting painfully, making his head ring, he wanted to kill them just so they would all _shut up. _Desperation was threading through him. He wasn't sure what was reality and what wasn't. All he knew was that these men were trying to take Zero away. He couldn't let them! He started to struggle in earnest, hazy panic and rage clouding his thoughts. The guards couldn't hold onto him but one of them struck the brunette vampire a sharp blow to the back of the skull with the butt of his rifle. The blow itself wasn't _so_ bad, but it jarred the fragments inside Kaname's head. Crying out in pain, the pureblood crumpled to his knees, clutching his temples as lights exploded sickeningly before his eyes. Reality fragmented and swirled, it was all lights, sounds and sensations that had no meaning. Kaname retched, nauseous and disorientated.

"No!" Zero's cry of horrified protest went unheeded in the general chaos as he saw Kaname go down. The guards were obviously on the brink of panicking themselves now, already agitated by the midnight evacuation and having good reason to be afraid of these beasts they were transporting. Things were degrading quickly and this time Zero did yank away from his captors, vampire speed getting him to Kaname before any further blows could fall. He grabbed the pureblood's hunched form; clutching him protectively to his chest and curling forward both in an attempt to calm him and to shield him from the others.

"Stop! Stop it!" he rasped desperately to their captors as he held Kaname's body to him. He winced as a rifle butt landed harshly between his shoulder blades, shooting pain down his right side. The pureblood was jerking in his arms like he was having a seizure, which he probably was.

"He doesn't understand, you're scaring him! Let me stay with him and he'll be all right!" Zero pleaded, trying to appear as non-threatening as possible to assuage their captors' fears.

Unwittingly, it was probably the best thing he could have said. These men already thought they were some kind of animals. Having only seen Kaname either unconscious or gravely injured and traumatized, they thought Zero the more sentient of the two. The fact that Kaname did indeed stop struggling and simply rocked in Zero's arms as the silver haired vampire held him made them relax a little.

"All right," one of their captors snarled in a halting cadence. "But you control him or I shoot you both. Get him in the truck!"

As carefully as he could, Zero rose and tugged Kaname to his feet with him. Kaname swayed, clutching Zero's arm, but he stumbled along obediently at Zero's urgings, allowing the hunter to guide him and seeming calmed by the soft, murmured assurances Zero whispered in his ear.

A few minutes later the two vampires were settled in the open back of one of the trucks along with several guards and a silent, watchful Salvaje. The other guerillas seemed wary of the way Salvaje's eyes continued to glow in the darkness, but they also appeared to have seen it before and simply tried to give him a wide berth, obviously not pleased to have to be in the back of this particular truck.

Zero's left wrist was handcuffed to Kaname's right, while the hunter's right wrist was handcuffed to the metal bar running along the back of the truck bed. Zero smiled grimly as he pushed his back into the corner and cradled Kaname carefully against him. When Kaname recovered enough to be in control of his faculties again, he was going to be insulted that these men felt Zero was a bigger threat. They had no idea how strong it meant Kaname was that he was moving and conscious at all with the kind of brain damage his body was attempting to repair.

The truck lurched to a start, bumping away across the rough terrain and joining the other vehicles as they made their way along the sketchy outline of a dirt road leading away from the quickly emptying camp.

Salvaje watched Kaname, Zero watched Salvaje and the guerillas nervously watched everyone. Just as they started to really pick up speed, warm, fat drops of rain started to fall from the cloudy heavens. Zero gave a soft, grim exhale. He didn't know where they were going, but this was going to be such a _fun_ little ride.

--

The gunfire from the rebels in the trees was starting to abate. Yuki, crouching near Kain and Aido found that at least she wasn't feeling a bit sleepy anymore, although she did feel incredibly useless back here, not to mention anxious. Whatever was happening, it couldn't be good that this trail had led them into a firefight. The whole situation was surreal. She was afraid, yet at the same time she wasn't entirely because on some level it was all almost too foreign to be real. It was as if she was in one of those movies that Zero liked to watch. Rain was starting to fall and she wiped her dampening hair away from her eyes.

Valdez gave a sideways glance towards the foreign 'allies' mingled amongst his own men. Everyone was intent on the firefight with the insurgents. Whether or not there were any survivors to be found would probably be answered once this pocket of resistance was dealt with. However... he wouldn't get a better chance than this to deal with the searchers. He gave one of his men a silent nod and received an equally silent affirmative.

Seiren frowned in sudden concern, finger slipping to her earpiece. "I've just lost contact with Echo Six and Echo One," she told Takuma quickly, referring to two of the extraction team members by their number designation. Almost as soon as she spoke, they saw the dark shape of another one of their team nearby jerk suddenly and slip to the ground as a streak of bullets caught him... not from the enemy in front of them, but in the back, from the supposed comrade kneeling right behind him.

The downed vampires might probably live given time to recover, but for the moment, they were out of commission and the remaining members of the search party found themselves in the undesirable position of suddenly being betrayed at a most inopportune moment and surrounded by enemies.

Valdez's men opened fire all at once at point blank range. Yuki ducked, but even before she hit the ground, Aido was on top of her, rolling her away with vampire speed. Kain was suddenly in the tree above where they had been standing and flames blazed to life in the brush below, blazing a hot wall of fire between their betrayers and his cousin and Yuki.

In the sky overhead, lightening crackled. At first, that was not an unusual sight considering the storm, until one thick tongue touched down directly in the middle of the bloody field before them, momentarily blinding most of the humans in the area. Several smaller arches of electricity leapt outward, catching the pair of Valdez's men that were standing closest to Takuma and Seiren.

Aido sprung back to his feet, tugging Yuki up with him, an indigent scowl darkening his face as he gazed through the wavering wall of fire his cousin had cast protectively around them. "Those backstabbing little bastards!" he growled, ice gathering around his hands instinctively.

Well, at least now their enemies were right here where they could reach them, and there was no longer any reason to hide their powers or their natures. The element of surprise was not about to work quite as well for Valdez as he had anticipated.


	9. Escape

_A/N: Wow, finally, an update on this story! :D Thanks to all of you who have been patiently waiting. Hopefully I will be able to update this story more regularly now. This chapter didn't get as far as I thought it would, since the whole thing kind of ended up one long action scene LOL but at least the story lives again! ;) Be warned, there's lots of action/adventure type violence and blood in this chapter so if you don't like that, don't read. Don't forget to check my bio for info about where to find my review responses! :)_

**Chapter Nine: "Escape"**

Kaname groaned softly, shifting uncomfortably as the steadily intensifying rain beat down on the passengers in the open back of the truck. It felt like needles piercing his skin, thanks to his screwed up perceptions.

Zero shifted a little too, trying to shield Kaname from the rain with his body as they sat together in the corner of the madly jouncing truck bed, but it was little use, the storm was really starting to pick up. Thunder rumbled overhead and somewhere a long ways off in the jungle, there were bright, repeated flashes of eerie lightning that caused the horizon to flicker briefly in their glow.

They rode in silence and the wet jungle jounced by them for what seemed an endless stretch of dark, miserable eternity. Around them, other vehicles rumbled along the rutted track that was euphemistically referred to as a road as the bandit convoy slogged through the rainy night.

The guards assigned to the prisoners huddled together under a tarp that was pulled across one corner of the back of the truck, talking together in low voices about inconsequential matters. No such consideration was given to the captives, naturally, and Zero shivered a bit as rain ran down his shoulders and back, tripping from the ends of his silver hair. He kept constant body contact with Kaname, offering reassurance and a bit of warmth if nothing else. The young hunter's gaze remained fixed on the other occupant of the truck, however.

Salvaje seemed heedless of the rain and perched in the opposite corner of the truck from the guards, a few feet away from Kaname and Zero. He crouched on his haunches, his sense of balance unerring despite the jolting and swaying of the vehicle along the barely defined jungle road. His eyes never left Kaname, and Zero's eyes never left Salvaje.

Zero's hunter senses were screaming at him, his skin prickling with the unstable Level E's nearness. He almost started when Kaname's soft voice whispered near his ear.

"Do you know where they are taking us?" the pureblood murmured, too soft for their guards to hear above the rain and the sound of the motor. Salvaje shifted, a slight movement, like a wolf intent on its prey, indicating that he had heard, but he made no move.

Zero was relieved at the lucidity of the question, and Kaname's tone. He dare not stop watching Salvaje, but his hand, the one shackled to Kaname's, shifted to squeeze the purebloods'. "No," he murmured back. "There was some kind of disturbance and they just packed up and bugged out. How are you feeling?"

Kaname felt the tension radiating from his lover's body and he squeezed Zero's hand back. _Like crap_ was the answer that came to mind, but he knew what Zero was really asking. "Like there's something in my head that shouldn't be," he murmured ruefully. "And kind of like an idiot. It still hurts... and I'm not sure I can trust my senses, but it's manageable," he concluded. "What about you?"

Zero knew that Kaname's definition of _manageable _was quite a broad one, but the mere fact that Kaname was having an actual conversation with him was definitely a good sign. Kaname might not be truly all right until they got the bullet fragments out of his brain, but at least for the moment his remarkable body seemed to be working its magic and stabilizing him enough to function. _Thank God._

Zero shrugged slightly. "I'm fine. But we-" he never got to finish.

Part of the danger of ex-humans who had completely lost themselves to madness was their unpredictability. With no rhyme or reason, no indication or provocation... Salvaje sprang on them with an inhuman growl.

He wanted Kaname, but he had just enough reason in him to know that the hunter had to go down first. Zero had been watching him intently, but there was still little time to react as the creature pounced. Caught in the undesirably vulnerable position of having one arm chained over his head to the truck and the other bound to Kaname, Zero was not in the best position to do anything, but he was still ready. He twisted to the side and Salvaje's hungry, snapping jaws missed his throat even as his knee punched up into the crazy vampire's gut. Salvaje's fingers had morphed into short, but razor sharp claws. Fire slashed across the hunter's senses as Salvaje savagely sliced his shoulder and side.

Zero yanked harshly on the cuff binding him to the truck wall, vampire strength enabling him to snap the chain, even if it made the cuff itself tear painfully into his wrist. Blood flowed and his fingers went numb.

Salvaje was too close and moving too fast. Zero was jolted by a momentary spasm of panic as he felt hot breath on his neck and sharp teeth starting to clamp on his throat. Kaname biting him was one thing. They had built up a trust between them and it was a gesture of love, affection and passion. But anyone else touching him like that was a completely different story. Anyone else touching him like that brought back a world of terror and hatred that he could never entirely forget.

Salvaje's fangs didn't get a chance to sink all the way home. A second feral snarl echoed in the dark, but it was deeper, more commanding and somehow infinitely more frightening than Salvaje's. Kaname threw himself on the Level E. The sight of the other vampire going for Zero's neck had momentarily blanked Kaname's mind in a sheer pall of rage and protectiveness. His eyes burned red and his fingers had lengthened into long, wicked claws which tore into Salvaje's body as he they slammed down onto the bottom of the truck. One of Kaname's arms pressed down hard against the other vampire's windpipe, the other dived for his heart.

Zero was yanked sideways as the cuff connecting him to Kaname jerked awkwardly against both of them, keeping the pureblood's hand from striking anything vital and causing him to tear a vicious gash in Salvaje's side instead of his chest.

Kaname automatically reached for his powers, ready to squash the crazy vampire like a bug with his will alone, but an intense, blinding flash of pain seared his senses. He reeled, wavering and nearly passing out.

The guards at the opposite end of the truck had leapt quickly out of their enclosure when they saw Salvaje spring. They gave a shout as if to call him off, like a rabid dog, but the fight was unfolding in front of them much faster than they could even follow. The next thing they knew, the prisoners seemed to be loose. "Stop! All of you! Don't move!" Their shouts were ignored.

Salvaje took advantage of the pureblood's sudden pause, clawing at the arm pressed hard to his throat. The instant Kaname's blood hit the air, Salvaje went completely nuts. He felt no pain, he felt no fear, he felt nothing but the mad, insatiable _need _for that most irresistible of temptations - pure vampire blood.

Salvaje twisted hard, heedless of his own injuries as he caught Kaname's arm to his mouth, licking the blood greedily, his extended fangs tearing into the pureblood's forearm like a mad dog. He groaned, it was a crazed sound of savage hunger and delight.

Zero scrambled up, resisting the urge to hold his bleeding neck. The fingers of his torn wrist were still numb and unresponsive and his other arm was now twisted at an awkward angle. Urgently, he pushed forward, attempted to untangle his and Kaname's arms so he could reach Salvaje.

Kaname was dazed by the agony in his mind. Apparently, whatever brain damage he was still working with made attempting to access his powers right now a very _bad _idea. His body was barely holding together normal, physical function. It couldn't deal with the level of control and energy expenditure needed for anything else. His senses misfiring again, Kaname was not able to react fast enough to contain the situation as Salvaje surged up against him, slamming the pureblood back against the side of the truck in the blink of an eye. The lip of the truck slammed painfully into the back of Kaname's shoulder blades as he fell against it, his head whiplashing dangerously over the side.

The guards were still shouting and waving their guns, their words either in the wrong language or merely made unintelligible by the absorbing peril of the life or death struggle taking place between the vampires.

Zero was yanked forward by the short chain connecting him to Kaname, slithering across the slick truck bed on his stomach and striking his head on the side. Stars momentarily filled his vision.

Sharp, piercing pain and instinctual fear stabbed through Kaname as Salvaje's fangs closed hungrily on his neck. The level E's hand tangled in his dark hair, jerking his head back as he knelt between Kaname's legs, leaning against his chest to keep him pinned to the side of the truck. Kaname felt the dizzy, familiar rush of having his blood drawn and his mind screamed in panic. This was a painfully vulnerable position, one in which he knew instinctually he should never allow himself to be placed.

Seeing what Salvaje had done was like a kick in the gut to Zero. His very blood burned as he grabbed at the other vampire, trying to jerk him off his lover. He had an intense natural protectiveness, perhaps even possessiveness of Kaname. As his lover, Zero wasn't about to let Salvaje get away with hurting him, as a vampire, he was furious at Salvaje for taking his blood, and as a hunter, he knew the other ex-human had to be put down immediately. Having tasted Kaname, he would never stop trying to get the pureblood now until he was dead.

Salvaje was deep into a maelstrom of blood ecstasy and he snarled, striking back distractedly at Zero while trying not to lose his connection to Kaname's neck and his unbearably intoxicating blood.

The pain and the shock of being bitten like this finally broke through the pounding agony in Kaname's head and the pureblood's reflexes sluggishly started catching up again. He twisted his bleeding arm up, slamming the heel of his palm forcefully into the other vampire's face, throwing Salvaje backwards. Given what had just happened, he got the clear idea that trying to access his vampire powers apparently upset whatever delicate balance his healing mind had currently achieved. He needed to stick to the physical for the moment.

Salvaje howled and tried to go right back, but Zero was already on him, slamming a hard punch into the vampire's side and trying get a clear enough shot to hit him with a charm. He didn't want to accidentally hit Kaname by mistake.

Suddenly, burning pain tore into Zero's thigh and stung Kaname's side as the guards opened fire, terrified by the fighting 'beasts' and giving up on trying to call Salvaje off. The bullets caught Salvaje as well, indicating that the guards meant to kill all three of them in their panic.

The truck swerved, the driver surprised and unnerved by the sudden sound of weapons fire from the back of his vehicle. Urgent shouts sounded from some of the other nearby transports.

Salvaje was mad with the taste of Kaname's blood, and reacted badly to the interruption of the guards. He didn't feel the bullets as he turned and literally tore the head off of one of his former comrades. Kaname and Zero also surged up to their feet, grabbing their chance. It wasn't much of one, but it would have to do. The other two guards were thrown off the moving transport before they even knew what hit them.

The truck jolted and Zero skidded on the wet floor, now slick with both rain and blood. He caught himself, but Kaname was yanked sideways by his wrist and also slid, going to one knee before righting himself. They shared a swift look. The handcuff had to go.

Steeling themselves by silent accord, they both gave a hard yank and the chain snapped. It hurt like hell as the cuffs cut both their wrists, but they didn't have time to deal with that before another deadly spate of automatic weapons fire raked across the back of the truck like a dark horde of angry hornets. The nearby vehicles had been alerted to what was happening and the men in the backs of those transports were now opening fire.

The truck bearing the three vampires slammed to a halt as the driver finally seemed to grasp what was happening.

Kaname, Zero and Salvaje were all thrown violently forward against the back of the truck's main cab as the vehicle braked. The other trucks were quickly pulling up alongside now, and in a few moments the vampires in the open truck back were going to be fish in a barrel when they opened fire.

Salvaje didn't seem to realize that or didn't care. His only goal at this point seemed to be to get at Kaname. He lunged, but Zero got in the way, grappling with him and taking him down yet again.

Kaname hesitated for a heartbeat, inwardly torn. Everything in him protested leaving Zero to fight Salvaje alone, but the other trucks were almost on top of them now and when that happened, they were all dead. With a soft curse, Kaname slammed his fist through the rear window of the truck cab, shattering it and forcing his way into the interior. There was no time to register the pain of the sharp glass, or to hesitate. An instant later the driver was dead and shoved into the passenger seat. The engine roared and the pureblood floored the accelerator, shooting the truck forward again and putting some much needed distance between themselves and the other transports.

The other trucks had already been slowing down to draw even with the stopped vehicle. They were confused when it started moving again and the few seconds it took them to understand what was happening and start giving chase again were a few, critical seconds that the vampires needed in order to get them out of easy firing range.

Kaname and Zero were lucky that these were humans and that the dark, the rain, and the frenetic jouncing of the trucks over the rutted roads severely hampered their aim. As it was, however, the random, ill-aimed burst of gunfire were still causing plenty of trouble. The windshield and the driver's window exploded into fragments of glass and Kaname ducked low, while trying to navigate the badly washed out trail that was serving as a road. The truck handled like... well... a truck, and a poorly maintained one at that.

He hauled the wheel to the side, taking the truck off the road and plowing through the undergrowth. Unlike their pursuers, Kaname could see excellently in the dark, and even with all that was wrong with him, his responses were good enough to let him chart a swift, swerving path through the trees. They needed more distance and more obstacles between them and the others. The sound of Zero and Salvaje fighting behind him was bad enough, each time he heard bullets strike the truck, his heart kept jumping into his throat and he was continually looking over his shoulder. Zero was far too exposed back there, they needed more cover.

Zero slammed Salvaje against the side of the truck, grimacing in pain as Salvaje's claws tore at him. The other ex-human had gone berserker on him and was exhibiting the frightening strength that some level E's seem to possess at the very end. It was multiplied and accentuated by the pure blood he'd stolen from Kaname, making him one hell of a pain in the ass. This would be a lot easier if Zero had any of his weapons with him, but fists, fangs and charms were all he had now.

Salvaje reared, smashing his face into Zero's before the young hunter could put a binding charm on him and making Zero reel backwards. Salvaje's nose streamed blood, but he seemed completely indifferent and unaware of his own pain, which gave him a bit of an advantage. Zero blocked just in time as Salvaje dove after him and they tumbled together in the bed of the truck, punching and clawing.

Zero did not like fighting like a vampire. He did not like the intense, savage instincts that rose in him when he reverted to claws, fangs and unnatural speed. Already once in the past few days, he'd been forced to fall to that behavior and it was something that would stay with him for a very long time. But in a fight for survival, you did whatever you had to do. So Zero met Salvaje's ferocity with the only resources he had, fingers extended into claws, fangs bared and eyes flashing. It was such an intense rush to let himself go that way... perhaps that's why he hated it so much. But now was not the time for hesitancy.

Zero's claws tore into Salvaje's side, but the other vampire didn't even seem to notice. He was much too far gone. Too bad Zero was still quite able to feel everything as Salvaje's fangs and claws slashed his arms and shoulder. It was like fighting a mad dog.

_"Constrixi!" _Zero barked, half choking as Salvaje's long fingers curled crushingly around his throat, trying to throttle him. In the bumping truck, he couldn't get his hand square on Salvaje's chest as he invoked the charm, however, nor did it have his full concentration and it only partially seemed to take. One side of Salvaje's body went slack, but his other hand squeezed tighter, fingers dangerously close to ripping into his opponent's throat.

Most of the bandit convoy had broken off when the vampires went off-road, but two of the other all-terrain vehicles were still following, their headlights dancing and bobbing in the darkness as they crashed along in pursuit.

A massive tangle of vegetation and small trees that were still too large to plough through blocked the path ahead and Kaname calculated the odds of being able to wrench the lumbering truck through a turn that tight. Deciding they weren't good, he took a different tact. Slamming on the brake, he popped the gearshift, throwing the vehicle into reverse before flooring the gas pedal again. He steered with one hand, his other arm on the back of the seat as he craned unsteadily around, watching out the cab's shattered rear-window as they ploughed through the dark, rain-dashed jungle backwards, angling off the left of the direction from which they had just come.

Their pursuers struggled to adjust course, miring and slowing up a bit in the wet, increasingly muddy earth.

Zero and Salvaje were again thrown forwards, against the cab of the truck at the sudden shift in direction. It broke the crazed vampire's perilous hold on the hunter's neck, but stars exploded in Zero's vision as his head banged against the hard lip of the bed. Salvaje also hit hard and Zero smelt a fresh blossom of blood in the wet air. The Level E howled and clawed at his opponent as they tumbled together in a tangle.

Bullets slammed into the metal beside them, mingling sparks with the rain and driving both their heads down. Flash lights and headlights swirled like crazy, drunken strobe lights in the darkened jungle as the other two vehicles struggled to turn and reverse course, the bandits in the back bumping into each other as they fired almost blindly towards the hijacked vehicle.

Zero and Salvaje were thrown to the opposite side of the truck as it zig-zagged madly. Kaname was trying to steer them away. He could smell Zero's blood and caught glimpses of the fight through the rain and his own unreliable vision. It was swilling panic through his being, but he had to keep his limited focus on what he was doing, or they would be in even more trouble. Driving was already taxing him, forcing him to keep a very tight control against blurring vision and a throbbing headache.

Zero gave a short, grunting cry as the other ex-human's claws raked his ribs and stomach and he quickly smashed his elbow into Salvaje's face, jerking away before the vampire could gut him. Zero's head was ringing and he stumbled and slipped on the slick wet surface of the back of the truck as it jerked and bounced beneath him. His feet slipped and he went down on his back, hard. Salvaje was slipping and sliding as well, but he seemed to have the feral grace of a crazy wildcat and he was on the hunter again in an instant.

Zero bunched his legs, kicking up hard and catching the other vampire in the chest. He sent Salvaje sailing over his head and off the back of the truck, crashing into the nearby trees with a dull, wet smack that was swallowed by the sound of the motor.

Zero scrambled to his knees, keeping low as another burst of automatic weapon fire wildly raked the back of the truck. He looked up in time to see them almost collide with a tree and quickly ducked his head, bracing for impact. But at the last moment Kaname swerved and they careened sideways, skidding on the wet earth and crashing through a tangle of brush that raked the truck and made Zero flatten again to keep from being whipped by the branches.

"Kaname, slow down!" he yelped, somewhat unintentionally as they catapulted off of some kind of boulder or outcropping, partially airborne for a moment before landing with a bone jarring thump and continuing their mad decent. The angle of the land had changed, sloping ever more sharply down hill now, and adding to the mad rush of their progress.

Bullets pinged off the cab of the truck, forcing Kaname to duck, but he kept an eye on where they were going. "You really don' want me to do tthat," Kaname shouted back dryly as headlights raked the vehicle, followed by the ever-present staccato of gunfire. "Tr-trust me!"

It would have been a lot more reassuring if the pureblood's words weren't quite so labored. Zero did trust Kaname, and under normal circumstances, he would have had no worries about the pureblood being in perfect control of their breakneck pace... well, okay, he probably would have had _some _no matter how unfounded they were, but still, the fact was, Kaname wasn't exactly firing on all cylinders. Even so, however, Zero did not argue. Kaname needed to be concentrating on driving, not on him.

First chance he had, Kaname popped the gears again and swung the truck around so they were driving forward once more. The truck had a lot more speed going this way.

Their pursuers were still following, but they did not have the advantage of the night vision, or the reflexes that the vampires had. From where he crouched in the back of the truck, Zero looked up and caught a glimpse of the other truck crashing along a little behind them. Frozen in a moment of time, he saw the driver, gripping the wheel, white knuckled, and he saw the men standing up in the back, leaning over the cab of the truck as they trained their weapons on the escaping vehicle. He saw Ramon there, flanked by two others. Fire spat from his weapon and pain seared into Zero's shoulder as the bullet hit.

_Crap! _Zero scrambled to the side, but there was nowhere to go, from this angle the back of the truck was far too exposed. He saw Ramon lining up another shot with the precision of a sharp-shooter, trying to compensate for the darkness, the rain and the horrible jouncing of the trucks... but he never got the chance.

Kaname swerved tightly around a group of trees, throwing off their pursuer's aim. The other vehicle didn't react as quickly. They didn't seen the dark tree trunks until it was too late. The truck plowed into the obstruction with crushing force, crumpling like a tin can. The men standing in the back were thrown free, crashing into the tree branches with deadly force. They were probably dead before they hit the ground.

Zero watched with slightly wide eyes. There was something sickening about seeing a scene like that, but he couldn't feel too sorry for Ramon's lose. Somehow he had the feeling the world was probably a better place without him.

After that, most of the headlights behind them disappeared as they continued to crash down the hill. With their boss gone, and faced with the dark, treacherous terrain, the near invisibility brought on by the rain and their own mounting losses, the bandits were finding the cost of continued pursuit too high.

"I think they're giving up," Zero called after a few moments of wary watchfulness. The jungle was closing around them, the sound of the rain and their own engine now the only thing they could hear. Zero flattened against the truck bed with a soft curse, holding his healing shoulder as a thick rake of branches thwacked by just over his head. "You can slow down now!"

Kaname, up in the cab, was struggling to do just that, but the weight of the truck, the slipperiness of the wet earth and the steep downward slant of the hill was working against them. "Trying to!" he called back. "Hill doesn't want to oblige."

"Try the brake!" Zero yelped, ducking again and gripping the back of the truck as the vehicle started to slid to the side, starting to take the hill sideways and canting dangerously as if it were thinking about rolling.

"Gee, I never thought of THAT!" Kaname shot back sarcastically, indicating that he was feeling a little better. Which would have heartened Zero more if it didn't look like they were about to start tumbling down the hill in a ten ton truck. Suddenly Kaname was out of the cab and beside him. The pureblood looked unsteady and drained, but his eyes were focused.

"Jump!" the pureblood called, echoing the words that were already on Zero's mind as the truck started to flip.

Just at that moment, something dark flew out of the jungle towards them. It hit Kaname squarely in the chest, slamming him back into the up-ending truck bed. Salvaje snapped and growled, truly looking and acting like a beast now as he snapped and clawed at the pureblood.

Zero only just managed to abort his own jump, swinging around and grabbing Salvaje from behind. He yanked him backwards and then everything seemed to happen rather fast. Kaname felt himself airborne as the truck flipped, the momentum flinging him out. He crashed hard into the ground and the world dipped and swirled sickeningly around him. Instinctively, he covered his head as the truck crashed by over him. Not that it would have done any good if the structure had struck him. It didn't though, missing him by inches as it continued its mad tumble down the hill.

The moment remained frozen in his mind. He saw the truck crash by, tumbling, rolling... with Zero and Salvaje still tangled together in the back. It crashed over again, and again, gaining momentum until it smashed with a tortured scream of metal into a group of trees that were too large to give way for it, ending the destructive slide.

The moment it was over, the jungle seemed unnaturally still. The truck engine had quit and now there was only the soft, intense patter of the falling rain.

Groaning softly in pain, Kaname pushed up to his hands and knees. His head was spinning, but panic was flooding his heart and he forced himself to scramble unsteadily to his feet. "Zero!" he called, stumbling forward, only to fall and tumble a few yards on the slippery, loose incline. Wincing and brushing distractedly at his newly bleeding cuts, Kaname forced himself back up, half stumbling, half sliding down the hill as quickly as he could. "Zero!"


	10. To Fall Down At Your Door

_A/N: We're getting very close to the end now, and in this chapter, we finally get to see why this story has the name that it does. :D I know it's been a long time now since I started this story, but just so there's no confusion, please remember that this is an AU in which Yuki is actually fully human, rather than the way things have ended up in the manga. Oh, and the whole thing with Takuma in the middle was actually a surprise my muse tossed in while I was writing LOL, I hadn't planned that at all, but, uh... oh well, I try to go with the flow. ;) Don't forget to check my bio for info on where to find my review responses!_

**Chapter Ten: "To Fall Down At Your Door"**

Rain was running into Kaname's eyes and stinging, distracting his already somewhat unreliable senses as he reached the bottom of the hill. There was a strange, horrendously painful stabbing in the back of his left knee and calf. He'd felt it before when he was forced to walk to the trucks and it was much worse now, but he pushed it away as unimportant at the moment and ploughed through the pain, his heart-stopping concern far outweighing every other consideration right now.

His gaze quickly searched the wreckage. "Zero?!" He felt sick with fear. A thin pall of steam rose from the smashed engine housing as the rain pattered down upon its heated surface and evaporated, adding to the already oppressive humidity.

A soft groan caught his attention and Kaname quickly scrambled, limping, around to the other side of the steaming wreck. He caught sight of a flash of sodden, mud stained silver hair and quickly dropped to his knees. Zero lay face down, his head, shoulders and part of his back visible, his lower body disappearing under the wreck of the truck.

Kaname leaned over Zero, shielding him from the rain and running a hand worriedly down his naked back. "Zero, can you hear me?" he asked gently, with deep concern. Blood flowed from the hunter's temple, mingling with the rain. He'd obviously hit his head pretty hard.

Zero stirred and gave another soft moan of muffled agony. Everything hurt and he hadn't yet figured out which parts were worst. His head was pounding. He tried to move, to wriggle forward, but he couldn't. The weight of the truck had him pinned. "Yeah," he murmured with effort. "But I can't... move..."

Kaname was relieved to hear him speak. "Okay, it's okay, Zero. It's the truck, I'll move it."

Kaname started to shift, but Zero reached out and grabbed his hand, suddenly worried as his mind cleared a little. He craned his neck around, searching. "Where's Salvaje?"

Kaname frowned and cast a glance towards a still body a little further down. He'd already seen him, but paid little attention in his consuming concern for Zero. He nodded his head towards the body and Zero followed his gaze. Salvaje lay twisted at a grotesquely unnatural angle. It was obvious his neck and just about everything else had been snapped. Surely he would soon be dust.

"He's dead, Zero," Kaname said quietly, obviously still more interested in Zero's situation. He squeezed Zero's hand and then let go. Shifting up, he gripped the side of the truck, getting his shoulder against it and pushing up and away. He had to lift it to move it, he couldn't risk rolling it and crushing part of Zero's trapped body. Normally, it would have been very little effort at all for him to move the wreck, but the situation was not normal. Kaname was fully capable of doing it, but it took a lot more effort than usual, especially since he had to rely on physical strength alone, unable to tap into his powers. Gritting his teeth, Kaname hoisted as hard as he could.

"Not necessarily, Kaname- _ah_!" but Zero's concerned protest was cut off as the mangled truck was lifted off him and feeling suddenly surged ruthlessly into his lower body. His right leg was a white hot blaze of agony and he had to duck his head, fists balling, body trembling as he tried to contain the pain.

Kaname threw the truck several yards away and quickly knelt down by Zero again, pulling him up carefully and cradling him gently, giving him strength by his presence. Zero clung to his arm, hissing softly through his teeth as he struggled to sit up, painfully dragging his screaming leg around.

Kaname shifted, having to be careful of the thick, sharp splinters of broken branches littered around them from the crash. He ran a hand down Zero's leg to check it... and felt the sickening protrusion of broken bone. Zero shrieked softly, although he tried to stifle it into a hoarse sob.

_Crap! Couldn't they ever catch a break? No pun intended..._

Kaname returned to Zero's side and started to ease him up, when sudden movement made them both look up. Impossibly, like something from a horror movie that refused to stay dead, they found themselves staring at Salvaje's wild face as he threw himself at them. His body was still crushed and mangled, one arm and leg both dragging uselessly, but instinct alone drove him.

Surprised, but reacting quickly, Kaname grabbed him by the throat and slammed him down to the ground. At the same time, Zero grabbed the nearest jagged branch splinter used it as a crude stake, jamming it down into the creature's chest and puncturing his heart.

Salvaje's body went slack as all the pain and the screaming in his head finally stilled. The hunger melted away, disappearing into blessed oblivion his consciousness winked out for the last time in eternal rest. Finally at peace and no longer having to obey the crazed instincts driving him, his body crumbled to dust, leaving only his clothes behind. The dust quickly darkened and melted away with the rain.

For a few heartbeats, the pureblood and the hunter remained frozen, then Zero dropped the ragged splinter of wood from numb fingers and slumped onto his elbow, pain shooting in raw jolts from his broken leg. He looked kind of sick, and it wasn't all from the pain. Despite being both a vampire and a hunter, he was not by nature a killer. He could do his job, but he didn't like it when it happened this up close and personal.

Kaname gripped his shoulders gently, pulling Zero back against him and hugging him gently. "You know he couldn't be saved," he said quietly, feeling the soft tremors of shock and pain coursing through his lover's body.

Zero nodded slowly. Yes, he knew. There had been no choice. Just like there had been no choice with those soldiers back in the clearing... but that didn't entirely wash the blood of these last few days off his hands. He was just going to have to live with that, like he lived with all the ghosts. But in a way... it was all right. It should hurt. It should bother him. Killing should never become easy. "Yeah," he murmured softly.

Kaname kissed Zero's forehead gently, wishing he could take the hurt he saw away, but he knew only time could heal that. They had both been through far too much these past days. It was more trauma than anyone's psyche should be allowed to bear. Kaname was a little stunned that he'd misjudged how dead the other vampire was or wasn't, but then, he was kind of operating with a handicap right now. "I'm sorry, Zero. I didn't..." he apologized softly, frustrated with himself for putting Zero in danger that way because of his messed up senses, and also still puzzled. _That was way too much damage for a normal ex-human to survive, he _should_ have been dead._

Zero gave his head a little shake. "No, normally you would have been right. But he had your blood in him Kaname, that changed things." Zero of all people was acutely aware of just how much drinking a pureblood's blood, especially Kaname's, could affect an ex-human.

A little loopy from pain, blood loss and an intense overload of mental trauma, Zero's fingers ghosted softly down the side of Kaname's neck, still torn and healing from Salvaje's vicious attack. A small thread of wonder rippled through his pain fogged mind. Sometimes as the years passed, he got to taking it for granted, that he could have Kaname's blood whenever he wanted. The constant diet had made him very strong. He might not have survived the past few days without that built-up strength. Every day, Kaname gave him life, but somehow, that debt didn't seem like a burden anymore. It was a kind of beautiful, touching gift that the ex-human treasured.

Kaname smiled with aching tenderness, his body responding to Zero's light touch despite its deplorable condition. He captured Zero's fingers against his neck and then pulled them away to kiss his palm as he liked to do. Zero smiled back, his body slackening as the haze fogging his mind settled more firmly upon him. He had a nasty concussion and his broken leg had bleeding too swiftly and too freely, adding to the strain of the bullets he'd taken during the chase and the other injuries from the wreck and from Salvaje. He was sliding into shock.

Kaname caught him, not letting him fall away. "Zero? Zero!" he said in soft, urgent concern, but Zero didn't seem to be able to respond, even though he was still conscious, his glazed gaze fixed unwaveringly on the pureblood. Kaname realized what was happening and hugged Zero gently. "Stay with me, Zero. It's okay, we'll get you fixed up..." he promised. Quickly and gently he guided Zero's mouth to his neck. Because of the angle, the already torn side of Kaname's throat was the most accessible but the pureblood didn't flinch as he pulled Zero's face close to his injuries.

"Come on, Zero, just a little," Kaname coaxed, feeling the stubborn tension or resistance beginning in the other's body. He knew Zero wouldn't want to take from him just now, but he really wanted him to. "Please..."

Zero slowly started sucking and licking the gashes that Salvaje had left in Kaname's pale skin, some part of him wanting to remove all traces of the other's touch from his lover's body. His salvia didn't have the same properties that Kaname's did, but Kaname was hyper sensitive to his touch and so the ministrations still numbed the sting of the wounds, replacing it with a warm, eager throbbing. His chest shuddered softly. "Please, Zero..." he repeated huskily, now both for Zero's sake and his own.

Perhaps only because he was a little too dazed to resist, Zero bit. It was incredibly tender and gently done and it caused no pain. Zero took a few little sips and then turned his head away, resting it on Kaname's shoulder. Kaname was so weak right now, he dare not take more, despite how his body craved it. Feeling a little better, if still loopy and strangely weightless, Zero relaxed in Kaname's grip as the pureblood shifted him in his arms.

Easing Zero back to lean against the nearest tree, Kaname changed positions to get a better look at his leg, which needed attention. Zero's pants, first burned by the crash and torn by progressive wear, tear and fighting, were now little better than cut-off shorts, and the pureblood could easily see the break about six inches below Zero's right knee, the bone jutting through the skin at a gut-churning angle.

Light headed, Zero mentally floated, his thoughts spinning in warm, hazy circles. Kaname's taste still lingered in his senses, keeping him from feeling afraid. He was so lucky, he decided. Life had dealt him a cruel hand early on and for many years, but it had made up for it later. Kaname and Yuki had made up for it. Their love made even being a vampire something he could live with.

Zero never had to go to anyone else, he didn't have to feel the ingrained sting of horror at himself for what he had to do to survive, because both Kaname and Yuki gave him their blood freely. It was Kaname's he needed, but Yuki insisted on not being left out and he loved her taste and the unimaginable feeling of intimacy when they were connected that way. Because of Kaname's blood, he never had to worry that he would lose control with her or hurt her as he used to agonize about in the earlier days. So it was just... special.

A specialness that was denied Kaname. That in a way, _he _denied Kaname. And Yuki too. The sudden, quiet thought came to him unexpectedly and twisted a bit in his heart. It was an unspoken agreement that he did not bite Yuki when Kaname was present. It was too cruel to remind the pureblood of the one intimacy he could not share with her. They bit each other in her presence, but lately Zero had begun to wonder how fair that was too. Yuki liked seeing them together, he knew that, but sometimes there was a peculiar kind of longing, almost envy in her eyes when she watched Kaname completely undoing Zero's world with the pleasure of his bite, or when she saw how beautifully helpless Kaname became as Zero's fangs teased him.

Now, in his vulnerably half dazed state, Zero found himself thinking the thoughts he'd long denied. The look in Yuki's eyes at those times whispered that sometimes, she felt like an outsider. Like her two vampire lovers could share something deeper than she could go with them.

Zero was willing to wager that Yuki would have let Kaname turn her years ago, perhaps even back in high school... if it weren't for him. He still recoiled sharply and instinctively from that thought, but at the same time... he wondered who he was protecting? Her... or himself? Yuki obviously wasn't afraid, and just like him, she would have two very willing donors to always fulfill her every need even if like him, she proved to be allergic to the blood tablets. Kaname could turn her and make her instantly stable too, she wouldn't have to suffer like Zero had, would never be in danger of going mad...

Zero shook his head, trying to clear his wildly wandering thoughts and focus on where Kaname was examining his leg. What the _hell _was he thinking? And why _now_ for goodness sakes?! Man, he must be really out of it. And yet... there it was. The truth that lay deep in his heart. When it came right down to it, he wanted Kaname and Yuki to be happy. He loved them with his whole soul and for them, maybe... maybe... he could even ponder the unimaginable. Kaname's voice broke into his thoughts, tugging him back to the present.

"Zero, I need to set this," the pureblood said softly, looking up at the hunter with haunted eyes. Zero's body might be able to deal with the break on its own with a little time, but it needed to be set as properly as possible, or it would heal completely wrong and have to be re-broken and fixed later. They both knew it would hurt like hell, though.

Zero swallowed, his eyes a little wide, but he nodded, knowing Kaname was right. "Okay," he rasped softly, reaching behind him and gripping the trunk of the tree he leaned against.

Kaname bit his lower lip and drew in a deep breath, before grabbing Zero's leg above the ankle with one hand and yanking down, while his other pressed on Zero's thigh right above the knee, stabilizing the limb as he popped the bone back into place.

Zero screamed, his head arching back hard against the tree and his fingers punching through the bark. The pain was intense, and the world turned grey, then black.

----------------------------

Rain sheeted and pattered onto the blood soaked earth as if it could wash away the stain of all that had happened in this particular patch of jungle. Weapons had fallen silent now and the dark landscape was an eerie tableau of melting ice and scorched, smoldering trees. A few lingering pockets of flame hissed and sputtered as if in protest as they slowly gave way to the sheeting rain.

Aido shook the kinks out of his shoulder. The pouring rain slicked his blonde hair flat to his head and gave him the look of a drowned cat. He really hated rain, it could mess with his ice, not to mention what it did to his hair. Kain hated it more though, he knew. If the rain was hard enough, it could really cause problems with his fire.

Fortunately, all their enemies had already been neutralized before the rain began to really interfere. Everything was still now and the only two humans left alive in this area were Yuki, and an incredibly shaken Valdez whom Takuma currently held captive.

Valdez was on his knees and Takuma leaned over him. One pale hand was curled around the man's throat, holding him in place and at the same time applying just enough pressure to be menacing. Valdez gripped Takuma's hand and wrist as if trying to pry free, but that of course was useless and impossible. He wasn't going anywhere unless Takuma released him. The noble was smiling, but the look in his eyes made it a frightening sight. This man had tried to betray them. The only reason for that was if he had some cause to wish Kaname harm, or if he had already caused him harm somehow. Either reason was something that Takuma could not forgive.

Seiren came over to join him after checking on the fallen vampire soldiers who had been taken down earlier when their 'allies' turned on them. The medical team was now assisting them and had taken them all off a ways, deeper into the jungle where they were more sheltered from the rain. It looked like they would all live.

The look Seiren fixed on Valdez was predatory. She caught him looking back at her and intentionally bared her fangs at him. He had hurt her people and she was not happy with him at all.

Valdez paled even more if that were possible.

Yuki, who was also making her way over now, would have felt sorry for him, if he hadn't just tried to kill them all. She was a bit frustrated with how useless she felt she had been during the fight. She'd actually made quite a good account of herself, but surrounded by vampires one was bound to feel a bit out classed. _She wanted to be stronger... deep inside... she knew she wanted to be like them. _

"Why?" Takuma was demanding of their captive. "Why did you do this? Why turn on us?"

Valdez seemed fixated upon the long, sharp canines flashing between Takuma's lips as he spoke. Their instincts brought out by the fight, all the vampires' fangs were showing.

"W-what are you?" the human asked instead of answering.

"You know, it's funny how many people just don't make the connection..." Aido drawled icily as he and Kain followed Yuki over. "I mean really, you think more people would recognize a vampire when they saw one."

"Vampire?" Valdez seemed incredulous and terrified at the same time. It wasn't that he didn't believe them... the truth was obvious and undeniable, but it was just that it was so unimaginable.

"You think if I bite him, he'll believe us?" Seiren inquired. The fight had obviously fully engaged her nature and the deliberate laziness in her tone was both deadly and intrinsically seductive.

Takuma cocked his head to the side as if considering it. "Oh, I think he believes us. But if he doesn't start answering questions in about five seconds, _then _you can bite him..." he replied, his tone deceptively light and casual. His normally sunny demeanor hid the capability of being hard as iron behind it, especially in recent years with all the responsibility that had fallen upon him.

Valdez unglued his tongue in a hurry. He told them everything he knew, including the orders he had been given to ensure that there were no survivors.

"Why that little...!!" Aido fumed, positively livid. He couldn't even think of a bad enough insult to heap upon the treacherous official who had given the orders.

Takuma looked troubled, his thoughts already racing away down a dozen different paths. He released Valdez, dismissing him as no longer of importance. "Seiren, wipe his memory up to before he met us and..." he started to request as he turned away, intending to leave Valdez unconscious and with no memory of how he'd gotten here, but still alive, which was pretty generous given the circumstances.

Valdez, however, did not wait to hear him out. A long knife that had been concealed in his boot flashed swiftly into his hand with the speed of a trained soldier. Driven by fear of the unknown and the sadly instinctual drive to destroy that which he did not understand, he stabbed upward, hard, as he sprang to his feet. The blade skittered along a rib and sank deeply into Takuma's back. Training and a pop-culture knowledge of vampires made Valdez go for the heart.

Takuma stumbled forward, giving a soft, startled cry of pain and clutching behind him for the knife handle he couldn't reach. Aido, Kain and Yuki all rushed forward, but Seiren was closer and she got to Valdez first, before he could try anything else. The fact that she'd not realized what was happening fast enough to keep Takuma from getting knifed burned and she snarled, her eyes going fully crimson as she ceded to her instincts.

"Big mistake," she purred, her eyes blazing as she slammed Valdez onto the ground with inhuman speed, pouncing like a tigress and burying her fangs in his throat.

Seiren obviously had the threat neutralized, so the others stopped as they reached Takuma. Aido grabbed him by the shoulders, standing in front of him and supporting the other blond while Kain and Yuki went around behind him.

"Hey, not too bright turning your back on him like that, huh? Thought you would have learned something with all those backstabbers you have to deal with on the Council..." Aido murmured, but there was no bite in the words. Rather, there was a thread of very real concern although the younger vampire was trying to hide it.

_Damn it! _One bad things about the various versions of vampire mythology that still floated around in human culture was that although a lot of it was sheer fluff and nonsense, a few key weaknesses had managed to filter through. Any half wit who thought _'vampire'_ almost inevitably thought _'stab them in the heart!'_. While the head was an equally good target, and while it worked much better with hunter weapons, especially on higher class vampires, the instinct was still unfortunately a correct one. If Valdez had pierced Takuma's heart, even with a normal knife, it was a serious injury. It wasn't likely to be fatal, especially since they had a load of doctors on hand, but still, it was a matter for concern.

Takuma held onto Aido's arms and half grinned, half grimaced, breathing hard around the pain. "Yeah... don't tell Kaname, huh?" he ground out between his teeth. _Or Shiki.... _but that was another matter.

"What, you don't think he's going to notice the big, bloody hole in the back of your jacket?" Aido shot back, sounding wry but shooting a concerned look at his cousin over Takuma's shoulder as if searching for some indication of how serious this was or wasn't. "Kain, are you going to stand there all day or pull it out?"

Kain and Yuki were both checking out the injury. The knife had sunk all the way up to the handle. Normally, you'd never just pull something like that out because of the probability of internal bleeding. But for a vampire, things were different. You had to get the foreign object out so that healing could begin.

"Or maybe we should wait for one of the people with an actual _medical _degree to do it..." Kain grumbled back at his cousin, deeply concerned as he rested his hand gently on Takuma's hunched back. He looked around for the medics, but wherever they were triaging the other injured vampires was too far back into the cover of the jungle to see them.

"Well, will _someone _do it?!" Takuma grit out between his teeth. "I appreciate the concern but it's not like I'm about to dust here, so could you please _get it out?!_" The dratted thing hurt like heck.

Kain gripped the handle of the knife and pulled it free as quickly and gently as he could. Yuki swiftly pressed the pulled up end of Takuma's soaked jacket against the wound as soon as the knife was removed, applying pressure to staunch the bleeding until Takuma's body was able to seal itself off.

Takuma gave a soft gasp of pain, clenching his jaw and his eyes for a moment until the burn went away. Yuki stood up on her toes a little to see Aido over his shoulder. "It's okay," she said softly. "It was too low, I'm pretty sure it missed his heart."

Takuma straightened up after a moment, his breathing still careful and his motions a bit tense, but it was obvious that he was all right. "I'm fine, honestly, I'm fine," he repeated for the benefit of the others hovering around him. "It only hurts when I breathe..." he joked a bit sardonically. That would pass though. It would hurt for a while, but he was a high blooded vampire and the injury was not critical enough to slow him down too much.

Now that it was settled that Takuma was not in any danger, they all turned their attention back towards the source of this unpleasant incident.

Valdez was already beyond the reach of this world, and Seiren was rising gracefully from his body. She wiped her mouth on the back of her hand, the red fading from her eyes as she collected herself. She hadn't killed like that in a very long time. She knew Kaname didn't like it and his wishes always came first. But she had been trained for this. She was what the vampire elite called a _praetorian_, a mix of both body guard a personal assassin who had been trained as such since earliest childhood. She was to Kaname as her parents had been to his before all of them died. That coveted role was an honor that her family had held for generations. She felt no guilt for disposing of someone who had fully intended to kill her master, not to mention tried to kill her friends and companions as well.

"Come on," she said coolly as she rejoined the others. She cast a gaze over Takuma to make sure for herself that he looked all right, but otherwise did not look for much reaction from any of her fellow vampires as far as Valdez' demise went. What she had done was perfectly natural for one of their kind. However, her gaze did linger slightly on Yuki, almost as if testing her. She knew the girl was immensely important to her young master, but outside of watching over Yuki from a distance as part of her duties for Kaname, she'd had little direct interaction with her over the past few years. _If you ever had to see that side of him, would you hurt him by turning away?_

"If he was telling the truth," Seiren continued. "Then it's more important than ever that we find Kaname-sama and Zero-san before anyone else does. They do not have many friends out here."

"They have us," Yuki said, meeting Seiren's gaze without flinching or showing any other kind of reaction. _She had crossed that bridge long ago. At different times, she had already seen both Zero and Kaname with their eyes red from need and blood on their fangs. It would never make her turn away. _

Seiren smiled slightly and Yuki got the feeling that if that was a test, she had passed. "Yes," the other woman agreed. "They do."

----------------------------

Zero blinked groggily. He must have passed out, because the last thing he remembered was Kaname setting his leg, but now he was being cradled in the pureblood's arms. Kaname was stroking his hair and murmuring softly to him. He had splinted Zero's leg with branches and strips of cloth probably torn from Salvaje's no longer needed clothing.

Zero felt cold and stiff and he wondered how long he'd been out. The rain was easing a little and although his body still felt weak and drained from trauma, Kaname's body heat was keeping any chill at bay.

Lifting his head, Zero shifted carefully in Kaname's lap, testing what movement would do to his leg. Unremitting hellfire stabbed upward from the break, momentarily flooding his senses and making him screw his eyes shut. _Okay, that answered that... _he mustn't have been out _too _long, or else his overtaxed body was being exceptionally slow about healing.

"Sorry," he murmured, feeling the need to apologize for being so messed up and forcing Kaname to remain here when they should be trying to get away. Even though the bandits seemed to have given them up, there was always the possibility that they might come back, or might even now be searching on foot and simply had not yet come across them due to the dark and the rain. Fear could cause people to do strange and unpredictable things, and to those men, Kaname and Zero had been monsters straight out of a nightmare. In any case they really ought to get out of this godforsaken jungle before anything else happened. "We should get moving. Was I out long?"

Kaname shook his head. "No, not very long, only a few minutes. And don't apologize." Kaname touched Zero's cheek with gentle fingers. "I should be apologizing to you. And thanking you," he whispered softly. His eyes held clearly the truth that he knew he would not have survived the past day or two without the hunter's fierce and selfless care. "I should have protected you better, I should not have been such a burden. I'm sorry I was so... _weak_..." he murmured in repentant shame.

Zero smiled faintly, but genuinely, his fingers sliding up to brush Kaname's. "Give yourself a break. You got half dead saving my life in the first place," he murmured back. It was true, Zero knew he would have died with everyone else on the plane if not for Kaname.

"Guess we're even then," Kaname replied with a soft smile, but Zero shook his head.

"Don't think we'll... ever be even," he murmured, closing his eyes as he dealt with another wave of pain. Kaname knew what he meant. Zero was obviously thinking of the debt he owed the pureblood for giving him life each time he gave him his blood.

Kaname gripped Zero's hand tightly as the ex-human breathed raggedly through his teeth while the flare of pain passed. Maybe someday he would make Zero realize that the hunter gave _him_ life every day too. Kaname's heart would be desolate, empty and cold without the warm, vibrant light and love that both Zero and Yuki brought into his life. For Kaname, that love was as essential to the preservation of his soul as his blood was to Zero's sanity.

After a minute or two Zero regained himself and tried to struggle up to his feet, only to quickly sink back into Kaname's embrace again in a cold, trembling sweat from the pain. _Damn! _It was just a stupid broken leg, surely he could hobble around on that for a while?!

"Zero, don't," Kaname admonished, supporting him and rubbing his chest lightly with a closed fist in an effort to sooth and distract from the pain as Zero leaned heavily back against him. "You can't stand on it yet."

"I can manage, we need to move..." Zero couldn't smell them through the rain, but he could feel the presence of other people in the jungle around them and he really did not want to get re-captured after everything they'd just been through to get away.

Kaname could sense the same, and was frustrated that he couldn't get any kind of read on how many people were out there or where they were. He should have been able to at least get an idea, but of course, right now, it was impossible. "I know, but you are not walking on that." Carefully, Kaname shifted to his feet, helping Zero up with him.

Zero grit his teeth hard, balancing on one leg and focusing on not passing out. He could do this, he could... He was so focused he hadn't noticed Kaname had moved in front of him until the pureblood placed his back against him and pulled Zero's arms over his shoulders. "Come on, Zero, hold onto me," he instructed as he reached back and curled his hands under Zero's hips, pulling the other boy up onto his back.

Zero winced, automatically curling his arms around Kaname's neck and shoulders as Kaname lifted him, piggyback style. The hunter was already shaking his head. No way. No way could he make Kaname do this when the pureblood was still running around with a head full of bullet fragments and god knew what else wrong with him. "Kaname..."

The protest was cut off by Kaname hooking his hands definitively under Zero's thighs and keeping them hugged around his hips, being as careful as he possibly could of Zero's dangling splinted leg. This was the best carry position to put the least stress upon the limb, which was why he'd chosen it.

"No, Zero, this is not negotiable. It's my turn." Kaname's body and head still hurt pretty badly, but his voice had that firmly resolute edge that clearly indicated he was not going to budge an inch. He'd force Zero to let him do this if he had to. Zero had carried him before and he could damn well do the same for as long as was needed. Zero needed him and it was high time he started looking after the hunter for a change.

Zero knew Kaname well enough to know when he was defeated before an argument even started, and the truth was, he really wasn't going to be able to walk until his leg healed up at least a little more, which might be more time than was safe to spend here. Reluctantly, he conceded. Scooting himself a little higher up Kaname's back he rested his elbows on the pureblood's shoulders. He held his left wrist with his right hand tightly as his arms circled Kaname's neck, supporting more of his own weight as much as he was able in an effort to try and lessen how much of a burden he was.

Kaname's hands slide a little further down his thighs, resting right above the knee for a better grip. "Relax, Zero, it's okay. You're no burden," he murmured, as if reading his lover's mind. In actuality, he just knew him well enough to guess what he was thinking.

The truth was, while this would normally be no problem at all for Kaname, Zero's weight seemed much heavier than it should have. Still, it was nothing he couldn't push through with a little determination and a lot of love.

The level of determination required rose quickly as Kaname took a few steps forward and again became aware of the burning pain in the back of his left knee that shot tendrils of agony down his calf and into his foot. _Crap! What the hell _was _that? _

Kaname tried to keep his gait steady, but he could not help limping each time he had to put weight on his left leg as he pushed determinedly on through the wet jungle, following the path of least resistance through the undergrowth.

"Kaname, what's wrong?" Zero asked with concern.

Kaname smiled and shrugged bravely, refusing to let his lover see his pain. Zero would only fuss more about being carried if he knew how much it hurt. "Nothing, just can't seem to get the damn thing to work right," he mumbled, letting Zero think it was his addled brain that was the problem.

The actual problem was due to the shrapnel the pureblood had taken in that leg during the plane crash. Zero had removed most of it, but a small, razor shard was embedded in Kaname's bone a little below the knee, the jagged, exposed end slicing into his muscle and tendons each time he took a step. After a few minutes of walking it would have been a crippling injury to a human, but Kaname's body was managing to repair itself fast enough to keep him moving, even though each step forward re-tore the wound anew.

Kaname didn't exactly know what was happening other than that it hurt like hell, but he figured out the general idea of it. _Well, _this _was fun... _

Zero's concussed head was still spinning and his leg was agony, despite how careful Kaname was being with him. He tried to support his own weight as much as possible for a while, but he was at a low ebb as his body tried to mend and eventually he slumped weakly against Kaname's back, his head resting on the pureblood's shoulder as they carried on. The rain had stopped, although the oppressive humidity somehow just seemed worse with it gone. It would be dawn soon.

Kaname's senses were starting to overload with the pain stimuli. He needed to distract himself and he was growing concerned about the way Zero's head was lolling against his shoulder. While he wanted Zero to rest and heal... passing out wasn't too good an idea when a concussion was involved. Zero needed to rest, but preferably stay awake.

Kaname attempted to engage him in conversation, but neither of them had much energy for thinking of things to say. Zero found it hard to keep his eyes open, but he could tell what Kaname was trying to do and he attempted to help, but he just couldn't think to keep a decent conversation going and eventually long stretches of silence developed and Zero slid in and out of consciousness.

As dawn broke and the sun rose, making steam rise like smoke from the wet, teeming jungle, things only got worse. Kaname was incredibly sensitive to heat and his pale skin quickly flushed an uncomfortable pink. He did not do well in sunlight either, especially when weakened. The cover of the trees helped some, and Kaname intentionally tried to stay in their shadows as much as possible. The increasing light hurt his eyes and he blinked rapidly at the burning sting that made his temples throb and his already messed up senses scream.

Perspiration slicked both vampires' bodies, making Zero slippery and hard to hold onto. Eventually Kaname had to stop, faltering and almost falling to his knees before he caught himself and carefully eased Zero off his back before rolling to sit on the ground beside him. Drawing his screaming knee close, he massaged the back of it, breathing hard from both pain and overheating. It was so hot it was hard to breathe and he jammed one fist against the bottom of his sternum, pressing his thumb up underneath it, which for some reason seemed to help a little.

Zero wiped perspiration from his eyes and looked at Kaname in deep concern. He knew the pureblood's issues with sunlight and heat. They didn't do him too many favors either, although they weren't as bad for him as for Kaname.

"Liar," he muttered with soft, resigned affection as he saw the way Kaname was holding his knee, and the nasty, purple black bruise that mottled his calf, indicative of sub dermal bleeding. "You _cannot _tell me that doesn't hurt." He yanked a broad leaf from a nearby bush of some kind and scooted closer to Kaname, waving the fan-sized leaf to try and create a bit of breeze in an effort to cool the pureblood down a little. Kaname looked like he was pushing heatstroke.

"It doesn't matter," Kaname murmured, closing his eyes gratefully at the bit of relief that the motion of the air created. "I'll heal."

Zero frowned. "That's your answer to everything, isn't it?" he said disapprovingly, almost angrily. The heat did nothing for his temper. "Damn it, Kaname... there you go again." Zero had said on more than one occasion that Kaname relied on his healing way too much, but the pureblood never seemed to listen to him, so he felt it bore repeating. "You're _not_ indestructible. Even you have limits and the past few days we've been riding on the edge of them, don't pretend otherwise! And I... you..." Zero trailed off, the anger draining out of his voice and replaced by the true emotion fueling it. _Fear. _"Look, after the crash... I didn't know if you were going to make it. You were so... _broken, _it was horrible. I never want to see you like that again..." he admitted hoarsely. The strain of their situation just seemed a little too much right now and it was getting to him.

Zero's vision wavered but he realized it was from tears. Oh great... he scrubbed at his eyes with his free hand. _Sissy... _

But Kaname was looking at him softly, with a deep, adoring look in his eyes that made Zero feel both happy and shy at the same time. The pureblood smiled faintly, deeply touched. He understood how Zero felt, because that same feeling was mirrored inside him towards the hunter. "Okay, Zero. I'm sorry," he whispered. He reached over and stroked his lover's cheek softly. "How's _your_ leg doing?"

Zero shifted carefully as if testing it. He grimaced, but the pain wasn't as excruciating as it had been before. "Better," replied. Kaname gave him a _look who's lying now _glare and Zero rolled his eyes. "I didn't say it was _good, _it still hurts pretty bad, but it _is _better. I think it's mending."

Having recovered enough breath to do something other than just pant for oxygen, Kaname bent to examine the limb in question, carefully un-splinting Zero's leg so he could get a better look. To his relief, the flesh wound had already healed closed. The leg was a dark mottle of bruises underneath, indicating that internal healing was still occurring and making he and Zero somewhat ironic mirror images of one another. Zero was right, though, the bone had probably already started to knit.

Carefully, Kaname re-splinted the leg and sat back again, leaning against the tree behind him.

"See? Satisfied?" Zero mumbled wryly.

Kaname ran his hand through his perspiration drenched hair and sighed. "No. Frankly, I'm not. I want to get you out of here. I want to _be _out of here and I never want to see this miserable godforsaken jungle again as long as I live..." he murmured with an edge of anger and hopelessness that made Zero give him a slightly worried look. It wasn't often Kaname let his control down enough to show this much blatant frustration and weariness and it demonstrated how poorly he was doing. Zero guessed he wasn't the only one feeling the strain of this whole situation after all.

"That could be a really long time," the hunter returned with an attempt at humor, feeling drawn to try and lift his friend's spirits a little. "Give it a couple centuries, maybe you'll feel different."

"And maybe I'll buy this whole damn jungle and make it a massive parking lot," Kaname returned with a wry glare, but his voice had lightened to a more jesting tone.

Zero chuckled. "I'm almost certain that some environmental group somewhere would have a _huge_ problem with that."

"Oh, fine, spoil all my fun," Kaname retorted, playing along and pretending to pout. It was good to smile again for a moment and remember that they _would _get out of this. They just had to persevere a little longer.

Kaname was thirsty, he was sure Zero was too, but ironically, despite all the rain last night, they had nowhere to get any water, so there was no sense mentioning it. Instead he tried to figure out their next moves. "I've been trying to get my bearings," he said after a few minutes of silence. "I think if we keep heading that way," he pointed. "We'll eventually come across civilization again."

Zero nodded thoughtfully, trying to overlay the maps of the country that he had studied before coming over with their current position. He couldn't find an easy fit, but in general he believed Kaname was right and that unless they were both badly turned around, that was the best way to head.

What neither of them said, was that it could be near a hundred miles between here and civilization, if it even lay in the direction that they thought it did. If it didn't, they could be wandering around in here for a very long time.

"What day is it?" Zero asked after a moment and Kaname looked both thoughtful and puzzled.

"I... don't know," he admitted, feeling a bit disconcerted by that. Usually he had a very precise grip on time.

"We're going to miss Yuki's graduation, if we haven't already," Zero said softly. It suddenly hit him like a deep fist in the gut. Not so much just that they would disappoint her by missing such an important event, but the realization that she had probably been informed by now of the plane crash. What must she be going through? Did she think they were both dead? How was she holding up? He knew if it was him and he'd gotten that news about Kaname and Yuki... _dear God... _his whole world would fall apart.

"I know," Kaname's pained whisper was soft, and the look in his eyes said that his thoughts were traveling down the same road. It was horrible to him to think that Yuki was probably going through an anguish of uncertain grief and hell at a time that should have been one of happiness and celebration for her. This whole thing had happened at a stupidly inconvenient time!

"We should get moving again," he said firmly after a moment, pushing himself up to his feet with some effort. Zero understood his meaning. The sooner they got out of here, the sooner they could get in touch with Yuki and let her know they were all right. He couldn't argue with that.

"Yeah," he agreed, struggling up as well with a little help from Kaname. "But I can walk now."

"Zero..."

"I _said _I can walk," Zero repeated with a stubborn glare. "We can take it slow and take breaks when I need to." '_When __**we **__need to' _was what he meant, but of course Kaname would acquiesce more easily if he thought something was for Zero's sake.

Reluctantly, Kaname agreed. He really wasn't functioning well in the heat of the new day and they'd make better time if they both pulled their own weight. "Okay, we'll go for a couple hours and take a break at noon, sleep through the hottest parts of the day and pick up again when the sun starts to set."

Zero nodded, somewhat amused at how Kaname always had to have a plan. "Sounds good."

They made slow progress with both of them limping as much as they were. Since it was Zero's right leg and Kaname's left that was the problem, they eventually ended up working out a system of walking with their arms wrapped around the others' waist, fingers hooked in their companion's belt loops as they moved carefully in tandem, supporting each other on the sides that they were weak as they made their way along.

It was slow, painful going, but attempts at conversation to distract themselves were about as fruitful now as they had been earlier. The thought of possibly facing hundreds of miles like this ahead of them was daunting and dispiriting to say the least.

_Hundreds of miles..._

"Hey, Kaname, what was that song Yuki was singing the day before we left?" Zero inquired as they hobbled along, still trying to make conversation to keep his mind alert and keep despair at bay.

Kaname seemed to think about that for a moment, as if puzzled, then a light of understanding dawned. "Oh, something about walking for five hundred miles, wasn't it? Appropriate, huh?"

Zero nodded. He hummed a little until he struck the right notes that brought the melody back to him. It was a song he'd heard often enough on the radio. Kaname had too, apparently, because the pureblood tested a few words of the chorus to the Zero's humming. Zero joined in once enough of it came back to him.

_"Oh I would walk five hundred miles, and I would walk five hundred more, just to be the man who walked a thousand miles to fall down at your door..." _

The pureblood and the hunter exchanged exhausted, amused smiles. The song brought back memories of Yuki, and the perfect day they had shared in her apartment before this all started. It reminded them why they were still hanging on, what they were fighting to get back to, and it raised their spirits.

They really only remembered the chorus, so the rest of it kind of turned into _"When I hmmm hmmm I know I want to hmmm I want to hmmm hmm hmm hmm next to you..."_ but the chorus they repeated over and over, panting and slightly hoarse. It became almost like a mantra to them as they struggled on through the unending jungle as the sun rode higher and higher up the sky.

----------------------------

Yuki's eyes felt scratchy and gummy and her eyelids seemed to have gotten invisible lead weights attached to them. They'd walked all night and she was dead on her feet. Kain was carrying her again and although she felt guilty, she knew the others actually preferred it since it meant she wasn't slowing them down. She rested her head against his broad, damp shoulder, dozing on and off despite herself.

Everyone was exhausted and drenched, but none of them wanted to stop. There was this despairing feeling that they were so close and yet so far away from their goal. By this point, they could only hope that they were going in more or less the right direction. The long hours of rain had obliterated any chance of a scent trail for them to follow, as well as erasing most of the other physical signs that indicated what direction the party they were tracking had gone.

The vampire commandos were excellent trackers, and their skill continued to tease clues from almost nothing, but it was very slow going and several times they'd had to back track for miles after taking a false turn in order to find the true trail again.

Aido wiped his brow and tugged his sodden hat down low over his eyes. The sun was obviously bothering him intensely, as was the lack of sleep. It was bothering all of them, but no one complained. Not even Takuma who looked especially pale due to his injury, even though it was now pretty much completely healed.

They'd been off the track again for some time now, and they were all beginning to realize it. The sheer vastness of the jungle was daunting. They could miss their quarry by just a few miles and never even know it.

"Hey, I hear something..." Takuma held up his hand and they all stopped and listened. Yuki dragged her head wearily off of Kain's shoulder and tried to focus. After a moment she heard it, and the others seemed to as well. The jungle teemed with a thousand different sounds that they had gotten used to over the past hours, but this was different. It was strange and out of place, like the distant sound of voices... singing? The voices were soft and scratchy, distorted almost beyond recognition, but Yuki picked up the tune immediately and her eyes widened, hope flaring inside her.

"Put me down!" she said, squirming quickly out of Kain's grip and dropping to the ground. Her feet shot pins and needles at her because of the sudden landing, but she didn't pay attention. She staggered slightly to catch her balance and then she was running flat out through the jungle. She slapped at branches and bracken that got in her way, her fatigue forgotten, her heart thundering in her chest as she followed the sound of the distant voices.

----------------------------

It was almost time to stop. The hunter and the pureblood were both weaving, nearly passing out on their feet and only staying up by leaning on one another. They swayed as if drunk, stumbling along inch by painful inch. Their senses dulled from pain, deprivation and exhaustion, they weren't aware of the people honing in on their location. Tunnel vision had totally taken effect and locked them into the arduous task of simply continuing to set one limping foot in front of the other.

They were still singing together in soft, exhausted tones when they stumbled out into a clearing and saw what must clearly have been a mirage.

_"...and I would walk five hundred more, just to be the man who walked a thousand miles to fall down at your..." _

They froze, the words trailing off. They stared, each convinced that the heat and the pain had gotten to them and they were hallucinating now. Because they saw ahead of them, hurrying forward from the other direction, what looked to be the sweetest sight they had seen in days.

It was Yuki, running towards them. Aido, Kain, Takuma and Seiren were with her, also a couple other people. Zero wondered dazedly why, if he was having a delusion, were there strangers in it? Yuki made sense, and perhaps even the rescue party idea, although he might never live down to himself that he'd hallucinated _Aido... _but _strangers? _

Kaname was even more convinced it was an illusion since he hadn't sensed them... but he didn't care. His gaze was fixed on Yuki. There were tears in her eyes, tears streaming down her cheeks. He wanted to wipe them away... _Don't cry, Yuki..._

The vampires outpaced Yuki swiftly, arriving almost instantly by Kaname's and Zero's sides. They were all speaking at once, all calling the two vampire's names and uttering exclamations of joy, shock, dismay and concern that blended together in an incomprehensible, but incredibly welcome babble.

It hit both hunter and pureblood at about the same time that this was real. The others were _really_ here, and their nightmare was _really_ over. Intense relief washing through them, Kaname and Zero half fell, half sank to the ground.

Yuki reached them about them. She pushed her way through the other vampires who were worriedly trying to check pulses, feel temperatures and examine injuries. She fell on her two lovers, trying to hug and kiss them both at the same time, kissing first one and then the other over and over and finally just clinging to them and weeping uncontrollably. She knew it was stupid, but she couldn't help it. It was tears of joy this time.

"Don't you ever scare me like that again, all right? Don't you _ever_..." she sobbed softly.

Kaname and Zero both clung to her in return, inhaling her scent, feeling her presence, letting it sink in that this was real. Their laughter was hoarse, their smiles raw and giddy and relief echoed through them down to their bones.

Kain grinned softly as he saw Aido turning away slightly, trying to hide the fact that he was sobbing. There was no point though. They were almost all crying. They were all so relieved. Kaname and Zero looked like hell, but they were both obviously very much alive and they had finally found them. Everything would be okay.


	11. All's Well that Ends Well

_A/N: Last chapter at last. :) I ended up abridging / tying up a few loose ends more swiftly than I originally intended, but by this point I kind of felt that getting them over the last humps and on to their happy ending was the best path to take. Or at least, the only one that I could get inspired to actually write, LOL. Also, I do not know how graduation ceremonies are done in Japan, so I tried to keep things vague. But if the parts I did mention are too western-specific, then... uh... just ignore please. ;)_

_Thank you to everyone who has read this story! Don't forget to check my bio to find out where to find all the individual review responses! :) I am also posting a small AU scene from the story on my blog - you can find that via the "homepage" link on my bio as well. _

**Chapter Eleven: "All's Well that Ends Well"**

"Please, I need you all to move away." The doctor's tone was patient. He looked like he was just out of college, but that was a lie of his vampire heritage. In reality he had almost three centuries under his belt and had watched medicine evolve from leeching to gene therapy. Seiren had brought nothing but the best in the way of medical help, and they covered all the specialties - including neurosurgery.

Zero, Yuki and Aido were standing close around the bed on which Kaname was lying while the doctors prepped him for surgery. Zero and Yuki were standing the closest. Aido was giving them a respectful distance, but obviously also wanted to be near. Under their feet, they could feel the thrum of jet engines.

Kaname gave them all a wry look. "Go. Shoo. Stop hovering. It's just a little brain surgery..." he added with dry, ironic amusement. He squeezed Yuki's fingers tenderly and kissed her wrist before slipping her slender hand into Zero's. He gave Zero's knuckles a light squeeze and fixed the hunter with a soft, warm look that held an obvious request.

Zero met the gaze with equal warmth and gave a slight nod. Yes, of course he'd take Yuki away and make sure she didn't worry. After everything they had survived the past few days, Zero was quite aware that sterile, carefully conducted surgery performed by an expert neurosurgeon was hardly anything Kaname's body couldn't handle. He would, perhaps, have felt a little better about it if they could have waited and done this in an actual hospital, and not on an airplane at 20,000 feet... but Kaname had insisted, and the pureblood always got his way.

They were on the large C-17 transport plane heading home. A curtained area had been set off in one part of the large hold and converted into a mobile hospital. It was here that the vampire surgeons would extract the shrapnel from Kaname's leg and most importantly from his head. It was not, perhaps, an ideal place for surgery, but then again, the pureblood didn't have to worry about infection or life support systems. All that was necessary was the anesthetic and the needed equipment for the surgery itself. Kaname did not want to waste time. They had to be on the plane for almost a day anyway... the way he saw it, he could have the surgery done and be fully recovered by the time they landed. Which was important, as they were just _barely _going to make it in time to make Yuki's graduation ceremony as it was.

One of the surgeons started to brush Kaname's long hair away from his face, regretfully preparing to shave it off in preparation for the coming surgery. They obviously sort or regarded it as almost some kind of sacrilege, but the truth was it would re-grow nearly as soon as Kaname's scalp healed up and the pureblood was conscious again.

The doctor who was acting as anesthesiologist had the breath mask prepared and held it in one hand, glancing towards Kaname for approval. It was no small thing to render a pureblood vampire unconscious. Surgery for them was a very, very rare necessity and in such cases were often done with only local anesthetic in order to allow the pureblood to remain conscious. It was for safety sake. The same reason vampire doctors were never allowed to operate unless they were fully fed ahead of time. If Kaname had not been surrounded by the people he was, if he had not had Zero and the others there... he would have insisted on doing even brain surgery while fully aware. But Zero and Yuki had prevailed upon him to take the easier, less painful and horrifying route, and he had surrendered, more for their sakes than his own.

The surgeons would be cutting around inside his head... there was no way he could have stayed fully lucid through that and the possibility that he could react badly, perhaps _very _badly, given recent circumstances, was high. Considering where they were... a bad reaction from him while in flight could cause a repeat of circumstances that he definitely wished to never, _ever _re-live, especially not with the precious load that this particular plane was carrying.

Kaname hesitated to give the doctor permission to proceed. He glanced towards Zero, and the hunter could see that the pureblood was distinctly uncomfortable. Kaname didn't want to have his head shaved and be put out in front of witnesses, it was too... embarrassing. Too weak. Zero understood and turned away, taking Yuki with him. "We'll be right outside," he promised Kaname quietly. _You're safe. _

Zero snagged Aido by the shirtsleeve and partially urged, partially dragged him out as well.

"Okay," Kaname murmured, understanding both messages. He gave the doctor a nod and closed his eyes, trying to remain calm as he felt the cool plastic mask slip over his nose and mouth and the equally cool scrape of the razor against his scalp.

Aido joined Kain and Zero and Yuki headed for the set of seats in front of them. They were close enough to be on hand if for some reason they were needed, but far enough away to give the doctors space to work unhindered.

Zero suspected that efficiency wasn't the only reason Kaname had insisted upon this rush. He knew that even though the pureblood was very good at hiding it, the shrapnel in his head was still affecting him much more than Kaname would admit. He'd seen it when Kaname had faced down the Governor back in São Paulo before they left. Not that the Governor had been able to tell, of course... he'd been too busy quaking in his boots as he attempted to face the man he'd double crossed and tried to have killed. Kaname hadn't tried too hard to control his aura and Zero was surprised the human hadn't wet himself as the pureblood skillfully and gracefully got the human to agree to everything he wanted out of their future business relationship and more - including a promise to stop secretly fueling the unrest he was using to cover his own illegal activities.

Kaname had been all cool, collected grace and power when he strode out of the Governor's office, freshly washed and clothed, looking every bit the aristocratic young business man and not even limping simply by the force of sheer willpower. Once they were out of sight in the parking garage, however... the pureblood had almost literally crashed, unable to make it back to the car without Zero and Aido supporting him. He'd slumped in the backseat with his head resting on Yuki's lap, eyes clenched, breathing shallowly in agony as his brain let him know in no uncertain terms it was not happy about continually having to re-route all his neural pathways around the ragged obstructions still lodged there. Yuki had held him tenderly, cradling his head and shoulders and and stroking his hair as they drove quickly back towards the air strip.

Yes... Zero understood quite well that Kaname couldn't leave himself vulnerable like that for any longer than necessary. As it was, allowing himself to be put under for the surgery would have been unthinkable enough, except that Kaname knew he was surrounded by friends.

Take off had not been easy for him either, the changing air pressure had done nothing good for Kaname's raging headache, but Zero and Yuki had stayed beside him, offering their silent support and love to help him through until the plane leveled off. Zero had been so distracted that he hadn't had time to look at or examine his own feelings about being back up in the air again yet. Now, though, with Kaname's care momentarily in someone else's hands, Zero had a chance to think about other things... which wasn't necessarily good.

As Zero settled down in the seat next to Yuki, he found himself glancing automatically out the window before his gaze quickly jerked away. He stared fixedly across the hold, his heart suddenly thudding wildly in his chest, his stomach cold as ice.

_No. Don't look. Don't think about where you are. Don't remember what happened... _but it was hard not to. The harder he tried to ignore it, the more insistent the memories of the crash were as they battered against his consciousness. _The stomach-stealing plunge, the weightlessness, the screams... _

"Zero?" Kaname's softly alarmed voice came from behind the curtains, along with a soft clang and a murmur of dismay and entreaty from the doctors. Kaname was obviously sitting up and disturbing the medical equipment around him. The pureblood's voice was slurred, indicating that the anesthetic was already well on its way to taking effect. In that vulnerable state he was less guarded and very susceptible to Zero's emotions on the other side of their bond. He felt Zero's fear and was too out of it to know what it meant.

Pale, uncoordinated fingers scrabbled for the tubes in his arms, starting to yank them out. Kaname had run on instinct for too long. With his reason lowered by the drugs, it was too easy to slide back into fight or flight mode. _Zero was scared. Something was wrong. He had to get to him... _"Zero?!"

Zero's eyes widened as he realized what was happening from Kaname's increasingly panicked tone. _Crap! _"No! Kaname, I'm fine! Everything's okay..." unbuckling, Zero hurried back across the hold, giving Yuki a quick shake of the head to indicate that she should stay put. She watched him uncertainly, but obeyed for the moment.

"Hey, hey, don't do that, everything's okay, lie back down..." Zero slid inside the curtains and grabbed Kaname's wrists, stilling his hands before he could jerk out any more of what looked to be necessary surgical apparatus. Somebody had to stop him, the doctors certainly weren't. Zero didn't bother sparing them a frustrated look. They were visibly dismayed and worried as hell, but by now he understood... they wouldn't stop Kaname, they couldn't. They wouldn't tell him not to do something he obviously wanted to do, didn't dare _think _of trying to restrain him, even for his own good. Fortunately, Zero had no such issues.

He had to struggle for a moment to keep hold of the disorientated pureblood, but Kaname quickly ceased struggling as soon as he registered that it was Zero holding him. Zero leaned close, folding Kaname's arms gently over his chest and kissing his forehead lightly. "I'm here, Kaname. Nothing's wrong. It's... it's just the plane. I was scared, but there's nothing _wrong_, I was just... scared. I'm sorry," Zero explained quickly in a soft whisper. He felt deeply embarrassed to have to spell it out like that and expose what a giant baby he was to everybody, but Kaname was too out of it to beat around the bush.

Kaname seemed to understand and he let Zero push him carefully back down onto his back on the surgical table. His fingers lingered on Zero's arm, unwilling to let him go the same way his glazed, heavy-lidded eyes remained fixed on the hunter's face. "No, I'm sorry..." Kaname whispered. "I... should be there for you. I should... hold you..." The pureblood looked annoyed at being unable to express himself the way he wanted. Self-frustration flickered clearly in Kaname's eyes as he visibly battled the effects of his partial sedation. This wasn't right... Zero needed him, maybe he should have waited for the surgery. He'd been so distracted by his pain and his desire to end it, he hadn't thought how hard it might be for Zero to get on a plane again and that was an unforgivable oversight. He should be there, should sit beside him and offer encouragement, not... Kaname's eyes started to close and he forced them open quickly. His body felt like lead, the world was dim. He fought harder, his heart rate starting to race.

Zero placed his hand over Kaname's thudding heart, his palm pressed to the pureblood's chest. "I'm okay, Kaname," he whispered. "Honest I am. Please, just relax and let the doctors do their job. All I really need is for you to be completely well again," he murmured. Zero let the truth of that, and the full strength of his love for the pureblood fill his mind and heart, willing Kaname to feel that reassurance as strongly as he had felt his fear before. It seemed to work because the pureblood relaxed visibly under his touch, a soft sigh escaping his lips as he stopped struggling against his sedation.

"That's right... rest now. I'll watch over you," Zero soothed, aware that it was ironically similar in some ways to how this whole trip had started, what now seemed a lifetime ago. His hand drifted up to caress Kaname's cheek. Normally, he probably would have stroked his hair, but there wasn't any there to stroke right now, which was more disturbing than Zero wanted to admit. Not that Kaname necessarily looked _bad_... the pureblood could probably pull off just about anything, but he definitely looked _wrong _and way too vulnerable. Zero pushed away his inner disquiet and made light of it instead. "Besides, now that it's started, you really have to get this done... trust me, you don't want them to have to shave your head again, you look pretty weird." He smiled gently at the last.

Kaname gave a soft, sleepy snort. "Oh yeah? You should try it sometime..."

"I don't think so. And don't get any ideas, I'm sleeping with one eye open from now on," Zero retorted, keeping up the light banter to keep Kaname... and himself... calm while one of the doctors slipped the mask back on over Kaname's nose and mouth, starting the anesthesia flowing again to finish putting him under.

"Just you... wait..." Kaname's voice trailed off and Zero felt the body on the table finally relax under his hand as the pureblood went under. Carefully he eased his hand away and stepped back as the doctors quickly closed ranks around their patient once more.

The anesthesiologist cast Zero a quick, grateful look. "Thanks," the woman murmured and Zero gave a small nod, his gaze lingering for a moment longer on his lover's still form before he slid out from behind the curtains again. There was a time not so long ago he would have not been able to bring himself to be that open and affectionate with Kaname in the presence of strangers... but apparently things changed. He hadn't even thought about it just now, he had only been thinking of Kaname.

Zero found that Yuki had unbuckled and come over, although she had remained outside the curtain and didn't appear to have heard his and Kaname's soft words over the ambient thrum of the engines. "Everything okay?" she asked in concern.

Zero nodded, taking her hand as much for his sake as for hers as they headed back to their seats. "Yeah, it's fine. Kaname was a little out of it and he thought I might be in trouble or something, you know how he is," he gave her a wry smile, but it was a little forced. Now that his attention was no longer completely focused on trying to take care of someone else again, Zero was trying desperately to forget where he was. He couldn't afford to be afraid, it obviously was capable of disturbing Kaname, and anyway, it was _stupid. _But tell that to his tense nerves. He wanted to be on the ground. He wanted the flight to be over _so _badly, and he felt like such a stupid baby for feeling that way. He attempted to conceal it from Yuki, but that was a fruitless and ill-advised endeavor.

She reached over and cupped his cheek gently as they sat together. He leaned into her hand and she stroked his hair, playing with the soft silver strands. He and Kaname had both showered first thing upon returning to civilization and she could still smell the gentle scent of shampoo clinging to him. Physically, Zero _was _fine. His broken leg had finished healing during their ride back to civilization, and though he'd still been limping up to a few hours ago, the doctors had given him a clean bill of health, meaning there was nothing wrong that his body couldn't mend on its own with time.

He was exhausted, though. She could tell. Both he and Kaname had slept like logs in the land rovers on the way back from the jungle, despite the horrid jouncing and jolting. Yet Zero still looked tired and worn when she looked into his eyes. Physically tired, and perhaps almost even more so emotionally. She couldn't know everything they had been through in the past few days, but she could guess enough. But they were all right, and alive... and with time, even the non-physical wounds would heal.

Yuki continued to touch him softly, gently marveling over the ability to do so. _She'd almost lost him. She'd almost lost Kaname. She'd almost lost all reason she had to live. _She savored the contact as a reassurance that Zero was actually sitting there with her now and it wasn't a dream. Yuki continued to stroke his hair and play with his ear and Zero closed his eyes, breathing softly if still a little too rapidly, trying to focus on her and not where they were. Not on the _plane... _

"Zero... are you okay with this?" Yuki murmured, very well intentioned, but not helping in his attempt to pretend he was somewhere else. "With being on a plane after the crash and all, I mean? Maybe we should have..."

"What, taken a boat and gotten there in a year?" Zero gave a short, uneasy laugh, pulling away from her and leaning back in his seat, trying to keep his heart steady. "Oh yeah, that would work. Forget it, Yuki, I'm fine."

Yuki gave her friend and lover a disapproving frown. "You're such a bad liar, Zero. You are so far from fine you can't even see it," she retorted. Her tone was fondly reproving and concerned at the same time. They had well established ways of relating and this was one of them. They'd been antagonistic pseudo-siblings for too long to ever truly lose that element. "You were in a plane crash, then lost in the jungle and captured by bandits and... and... and almost _died... _you have no _right _to be fine."

Zero gave a small, tired chuckle, but at least it was a genuine sound this time. He ran his hand down his face. "Okay. Okay I'm not fine then, if that makes you happy."

Yuki gave a firm little decided nod. "Yes, that makes me very happy."

Zero raised his eyebrows. "You're very happy that I'm _not _fine..." a small, real smile teased the corners of his lips.

Yuki gave him a look, but stuck with it. "Yes. I mean, no... I'm very happy that you _admit_ you're not fine."

"... in order to make you happy," Zero amended, doggedly.

"Which is making me very _un_happy_. _You two are giving me a headache, can't you shut up?" Aido's voice interrupted from behind them.

Yuki and Zero ignored him. Yuki settled the matter her own way by leaning forward and giving Zero a warm kiss. Zero responded and for a few delicious minutes he managed to not think about the fact that he was on a plane at all. He caressed Yuki's jaw and ran his fingers through her hair as he savored the soft, beautiful contact. He had missed her so much. For a while... he'd thought he was never going to see her again. His eyes stung and he closed them, savoring the moment.

Behind them, Kain calmly plastered the magazine he was reading over his cousin's face when Aido's exaggerated gagging expression was in danger of becoming either too annoying or too amusing.

When they finally separated, Yuki guided Zero's head to her shoulder. "Rest a while," she murmured. "Kaname's going to need us when he's all done." She knew Zero well, the need to take care of someone else was usually a good way to get him to do things. Besides, what she said was true.

Zero hesitated, but was unable to refuse her, unable to resist the delicious comfort of just being near her. He rested his silver head on her shoulder and she ran her fingers lightly through his hair. He studiously ignored the rumble of the engines and the thrum of the plane, and told himself it was the engine of a car or the hum of a dryer. He focused on Yuki's scent and the rhythm of her heartbeat. And he focused on listening for any out of place sound or movement from behind the curtained partition across the hold. Even though he knew Kaname was safe, he had no intention of actually resting until the surgery was over. Even now, he still felt like he had to watch over the pureblood.

But at least, wrapped in Yuki's comforting presence, he was able to relax and his fear slowly eased into something much more manageable. Despite his best intentions, his weary, exhausted body did in fact start to doze and he rested peacefully on Yuki's shoulder for some time.

Across the hold, the surgery progressed with swift, competent efficiency. First, Kaname was turned onto his stomach and the shrapnel that was embedded in the bone below his knee was removed. There was no need to suture the wound incision when they were done, it healed up on its own as soon as they removed their tools. The trick with vampire surgery, and especially with this very rare pureblood surgery, was to _keep _the body from trying to heal too fast, while it was still being worked upon.

Kaname was then turned onto his back once more and his head was immobilized via the special bolt / vice contraption that was part of the table. The anesthesiologist watched her drug levels carefully as her colleague started operating. All of them were aware of the gravity of what they were doing and there was no sound in the small surgical tent except for the doctor's murmured requests for different instruments and the soft metallic ping of the bullet fragments being deposited into a small stainless steel basin as they were removed.

The anesthesiologist was very good at what she did, but sedating a pureblood was not something she had ever done before, _extremely_ few people ever had. Just like with humans, vampire anesthesia was in essence a poison, so she certainly did not want to risk giving Kaname too much, even though the dose was already double that which would have been suitable for a Noble class vampire. Perhaps under normal circumstances, it would have served, but Kaname had been through too much the past few days and his body had reacted to the constant need to be healing itself by forcefully amping up his metabolism to cope.

As his body started to adjust to them, the drugs did not keep him under and he started floating back to groggy semi-consciousness, aware of a burning pain in his head and not much else.

The surgeon gave a horrified inhalation of breath as he glanced up from his work to see his patient's unfocused eyes flutter open. "Damn it, Karen, he's waking up, put him back under!" the surgeon hissed as calmly as he was able. You just _didn't _have patients wake up while you were cutting into their brain matter, you just didn't. Even for a vampire doctor it was hideously disturbing. More frightening was the prospect that if Kaname started struggling like he had earlier, he could probably break the surgical clamps that held his head fixed in place and do himself severe damage.

Fortunately, the surgery had temporarily severed the pureblood's motor skills, leaving him paralyzed on the operating table. Unfortunately, Kaname was just partially awake enough to be aware that he couldn't move. Pain and terror flooded him. He didn't know where he was. He was trapped, paralyzed, and people were doing things to him, things that _hurt _so badly he wanted to cry.

"Karen...?" the doctor's hands were steady, trying to operate as swiftly as he dared while keeping an eye on the patient.

The anesthesiologist was obviously freaked, but reacting well under pressure. "I'm _trying_, Caito. I've upped the dosage but he's fighting it. I don't want to give him too much, it will hamper his healing..."

It was Zero's turn to jerk awake with his heart thudding and inexplicable fear pounding through his veins. His head hurt. It felt like it was being jabbed with knives. Zero gave a soft, startled groan of pain, gripping his head. For a moment he could hardly think or figure out what was going on. He thought he'd had a nightmare, or his own fears over where he was were playing tricks on him, but as he became more fully aware, he knew that wasn't the case.

Yuki looked worried and alarmed. She was off her seat and crouching in front of his, her fingers twining over his as he held his head, trying to get him to look at her. "Zero? Zero what's wrong? Are you okay? Zero!"

Zero's heart was thudding, but his mind, previously made vulnerable by sleep, came once more under the power of his wakeful consciousness the pain in his head faded, leaving just the memory. It wasn't his pain. He knew that now though. Just like it wasn't his fear.

His bond with Kaname was burning with terror and agony.

The pureblood was usually more sensitive to their bond than he was, but Zero was more attuned to Kaname than usual just now because of how closely they had had to depend on one another for survival these past days, because for so long his every waking moment had been spent focusing on whether or not he could hear the pureblood breathing, whether Kaname's heart was still beating and whether he was in distress. Kaname was definitely in distress now.

Zero's wide eyes focused on Yuki as he scrambled quickly to his feet. "Not me... it's not me... it's Kaname. Something's wrong..." he saw the color drain from her face, mirroring his own, but both their feet were already in motion.

Zero just managed to keep himself from bursting into the surgical enclosure. He knew that whatever was happening, disrupting the surgeons wasn't going to help. So he slid in swiftly but quietly, Yuki right behind him. Zero winced as soon as they were through the curtain, automatically reaching to shield Yuki's eyes from the sight of Kaname in mid-surgery. She shouldn't be here, she shouldn't see him like this. She didn't need those mental images and Kaname wouldn't like it.

But Yuki pushed his hand away. She looked pale, even a little sick, but there was no way she was leaving. She'd almost lost her loves once, it would take more than heaven or earth could supply to drag her away from them now. If something was wrong with Kaname, she was going to be there for him. And there was something wrong, because surely... his eyes shouldn't be open like that.

The doctors did not tell them to get out. They'd seen Zero calm Kaname before.

"He's fighting the anesthesia," the doctor named Karen told them as she adjusted the dosage yet again and moved the mask more firmly over his nose and mouth. "Try to get through to him, he just needs to stop fighting it, we're almost done..."

She barely needed to say it. As soon as they understood what was wrong, Zero and Yuki were both by the pureblood's side. Zero moved around to his left and Yuki remained on his right.

Kaname's hands lay limp by his side, but his eyes darted around in incomprehension, brimming with raw fear that broke both Zero and Yuki's hearts. By unspoken accord, they each took one of Kaname's hands in their own. Zero placed his other hand over Kaname's heart and Yuki cupped his cheek in her free palm, careful not to disturb the anesthesia mask.

"Kaname, it's okay. You're safe, you're with us, just relax and let them finish. It will all be okay..." Yuki whispered gently, desperately hoping to get through to him.

Zero closed his eyes and as he had earlier, he filled his mind with calming, peaceful thoughts and willed them to flow through their bond, hoping to touch Kaname's mind with them. He didn't have a lot of direct control over things like that, but his intense effort was earnest. He thought of the most comforting and lovely setting he could come up with on the spot, trying to share it with Kaname.

_Zero, Kaname and Yuki were standing hand in hand in hand on a beautiful, deserted beach, watching the surf roll and lap against the shore. In consideration of Kaname, Zero imagined it as nighttime, and the stars and the moon glittered off the tips of the waves... _

Gradually, Kaname's heartbeat started to slow. His wild gaze calmed, fixing on Yuki as she caressed and spoke to him, and then on Zero before fluttering shut as he surrendered to merciful darkness once more.

"He's under," Karen whispered with obvious, intense relief.

Yuki and Zero did not leave. They stayed with Kaname for the remainder of the surgery, standing on opposite sides of the bed and holding his hands. You would have had to go through both of them in order to bring any harm to the unconscious pureblood on the table and the fierce protectiveness practically radiated off of them. After a few minutes Yuki seemed to realize their somewhat amusingly matching attitudes and smiled across at Zero. He lifted his eyebrows, realizing it as well, and smiled back.

------------------------------------

Stately music floated on the air, mingled with the muted sounds of a silent, crowded auditorium as student names were called out, one after another. Every now and again sections of the audience broke into cheers, whistles and applause when someone they knew was called.

"She looks beautiful," Kaname murmured.

"Mm-hmm," Zero nodded in agreement.

The two vampires leaned on an iron railing, gazes fixed on the graduation proceedings below. Or rather, on one particular graduate as she stood waiting to be called. They had made it back _just_ in time for the ceremony. As he had planned, Kaname had more or less fully recovered from surgery by the time the long flight ended. They had just barely had time to dress and get over here before the proceedings commenced.

As a result, they were way too late to get seats in the auditorium anywhere other than the way back of the room, with so many heads between them and Yuki that even vampire eyesight wouldn't help. So instead, Kaname's pull had gotten them permission to come up here, and watch the ceremony from one of the balconies usually reserved for film crews. They had an excellent view of everything from up here and didn't have to contend with being stuck amidst a sea of other people, so it really worked out quite well.

Takuma, Kain, Aido and Seiren were up there with them. Takuma had appointed himself photographer for the event and was happily snapping pictures of Yuki with a zoom lens. He was getting pictures of everyone up here on the balcony as they watched, too, but Kaname and Zero were too distracted to notice.

When Yuki was called, they all clapped and cheered and her gaze searched them out, flashing them a brilliant smile. She was happy to be graduating, of course.... but most of all, she was happy to see those two particular smiling faces as they clapped for her.

As Yuki went through the motions of the ceremony, she knew her life lay ahead of her now. Not just the normal choices of what she would do after school, but some additional ones unique to her situation. She was fairly certain most people didn't have to spend much time considering when and if they would become a vampire, yet that was a bridge she would eventually have to cross. But not today. The future could wait for a little while, until they were all ready to face it. Right now, she would savor the moment, and the beautiful feeling that she'd been given a second chance to be with those she loved, that they'd been returned to her when she'd thought them lost. Ultimately, she knew that whatever the future held, it was okay as long as they were together.

**Epilogue: **

"Look at this one!" Yuki giggled, brandishing a photo. "Oh my gosh, you look like you're stoned, Zero!"

"What? Give me that!" Zero grabbed the offending photo. Looking, he saw that it had been caught at just the wrong moment so he did indeed look both dazed and demented. He gave a laughing groan. "Geez... Kaname, we are never letting Takuma near a camera again, right? Tell me we're not..."

Kaname had another stack of pictures in his hand and tossed down an amusing succession of pictures featuring Aido. At first the blonde appeared to be playing to the camera with his usual charm, then he appeared to become increasingly annoyed and was obviously trying to get it out of his face. The last couple shots were of him making downright making rude and hilarious faces and obviously trying to wrest the camera away from Takuma.

"Takuma always had a... eh... certain _way _with a camera..." Kaname admitted in amusement, reaching over and plucking the picture of Zero from the hunter's fingers so he could enjoy a good chuckle over it. "That is _not _a flattering shade of red..." he added, amused by the red-eye effect that the camera produced which was light years away from the intense, seductive vampire red that he was used to seeing in the other's gaze on occasion.

Kaname, Yuki and Zero were all cuddled up together on a huge, suspended bed-like hammock complete with a king-sized mattress, pillows and comfortable cotton sheets. A private beach spread around them, filled with the sound of the ocean waves, gulls wheeling overhead and the gentle patter of rain. The hammock was protected from both sun and rain by a sturdy, yet airy canopy that acted like a tent, arcing up over their heads and dangling down to the sand below on three sides. The fourth side, facing the water, was tied open so they could watch the rain falling on the beach and enjoy the sunset over the water while remaining protected from the elements.

They'd all been out playing in the waves and the sand in the late evening sun. Kaname knew that Yuki was more able to enjoy the beach during daylight. So he wore sunglasses and heavy-duty sun block and did not complain, able to happily distract himself with the sight of Yuki and Zero in bathing suits. A sudden evening shower had driven them all, damp and laughing, into the cover of the hammock cabana where they flopped on the gently swinging bed, snacking on fruit and drinking wine as they watched the rain and the sunset over the ocean.

The three of them had decided that after everything that had happened, the month-long vacation they had planned to spend together was simply not enough time. They had extended it to three months and were enjoying a relaxing, languid itinerary that was exactly what all of them needed.

Already, they had been at this lovely retreat for three days and the cares and concerns of the past weeks felt like they were visibly melting away. Takuma had sent them a packet of the pictures that he'd taken at Yuki's graduation. Or, five packets, to be more exact, since he seemed to have photographed almost every moment of the ceremony and the party afterwards.

Warmed by companionship, fresh air and wine, the trio in the hammock were now amusing themselves by going through the photos. Some were absolutely lovely, but some were downright hillarious. Yuki lay on her stomach on the sheets with a pile of pictures in front of her, Zero was on his side leaning on his elbow and Kaname was half-sitting, leaning against some pillows. Their legs were all tangled together, their bodies pressed close in the comfortably small space and everyone was feeling very good.

"Ha! Yuki, you look like you're having a seizure in this one!" Zero chuckled, pushing a picture over to her.

Yuki pulled it closer and cracked up laughing, nearly spilling her drink, but managing not to at the last moment. "Oh gosh, it does... it does... Kaname, look!" she wheezed breathlessly, handing him the ridiculous looking photo of her in the middle of dancing with Yori at the graduation after-party. Her longtime friend had of course come out to her graduation as well and caught up with her after the ceremony. In the photo, Yuki and Yori had been caught in the middle of some energetic dance moves that looked positively retarded when captured in still frame. _She was going to have to get a copy of that and send it to Yori... _

Kaname chuckled. It took a lot to make Yuki look stupid, but apparently nothing was beyond possible with a camera...

Suddenly Yuki started laughing so hard Zero had to reach over and take her glass from her hand to keep it from spilling. She wordlessly shoved a picture towards him and he immediately cracked up as well.

Curious, Kaname leaned forward, but Zero flipped the picture over. "Oh... I'm not sure you're ready to see this one..." the hunter choked out around his unchecked amusement.

Yuki was gasping for air. "Oh come on... Zero... let him see..."

Kaname settled it easily by snatching the picture away with a suspicious, amused look and turning it over. The picture was of him, giving a toast to Yuki. The camera had caught Kaname mid-word with his mouth open and his glass raised in the air in such a way that it looked like he would have been more at home at a keg party than what the situation had actually been.

Kaname broke out laughing despite himself, lightly mortified but mostly amused since the only people that were ever, _ever _going to see these pictures were right here with them. He turned over the envelope that the photos had come in with a grin. "Where did Takuma have these developed? I think they're about to have an unexpected fire wherever they keep their negatives..." he joked.

Yuki laughed some more and then looked around, meaning to recapture her wine glass from Zero who had taken it from her before. Zero was holding it, but it was suspiciously empty and she gave him a poke in the ribs. "Hey! My drink!"

Zero looked innocent. "What? What drink?"

Yuki pounced on him playfully and they tussled, the hammock rocking somewhat wildly.

"Hey, hey!" Kaname laughed in amusement, saving the wine bottle and his own glass from getting spilled. He finished his glass and set the bottle down out of harm's way. "Seriously... can I not take you two anywhere without you behaving like children...?" the pureblood teased them, obviously goading.

Zero and Yuki both turned, fixing playful, dangerous grins on him. "Get him!" Yuki crowed and they both pounced on Kaname. The delightful three-way romp sooner or later turned somewhat less innocent and the privacy of the deserted beach and the concealing canopy around the hammock bed turned out to be a very good thing.

A good while later, the threesome lay comfortably tangled together under the light sheets that the hammock bed had been made up with, tired bodies glowing with pleasure and contentment as they rocked gently and watched the rain.

The sun had set by now and the moon was up, shining down on the surface of the water through the rain and catching on the tops of the waves.

Yuki's slim fingers were playing with Kaname's hair, Kaname's hand was resting on Zero's hip and the pureblood felt utterly contented. Looking out at the moonlit beach, he was struck by a strange, vague scene of deja-vu that he couldn't quite place, but it was beautiful. It was like some lovely place he'd seen in a dream or something... when he'd been in surgery. He looked over and found Zero watching him. Their eyes held emotions that no words could aptly describe, like a deep, infinite warmth passing between them. Somehow, they both knew that this, right here - this ultimate beauty of being with those you loved - was their idea of heaven. At almost the same time, they both glanced towards Yuki and saw the same expression in her eyes.

Cuddling closer, they closed their eyes and listened to the rain, and the sound of each other's hearts beating. And life, for once, was perfect.

THE END


End file.
